Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

New website for grandparents raising grandchildren

Karen Best Wright, www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com

There is a new website that is being started by grandparents who are raising their granddaughter. They are inviting other grandparents to participate on their discussion page. Let's support them in their efforts. You can visit their site at http://www.raisinggrandchildren.net.nz/

Emotional Yoga for a grandmother

By Karen Best Wright, www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com

It has been quite a while since I have written, too long. There's a good reason. I'm in major crisis mode right now. Every day I think life has to get better, and every day it doesn't. I realize if I don't start practicing emotional yoga, I will break.

Emotional yoga, what is that? I don't know. I just made it up. But it came to me that when our bodies are stiff and inflexible, it is really easy to break something should we fall. Our emotional health is much the same. If we are emotionally inflexible and things are "suppose" to be a certain way, then we are more likely to emotionally break should we get emotionally knocked off our feet.

Well, I have been emotionally knocked off of my feet. I can tell that I really am likely to emotionally break if I don't become emotionally more flexible. So I pray for faith, trust, and guidance. What doesn't help me are simplistic answers such as "follow your heart" or "fear is the opposite of love." I think anger is the opposite of love. Maybe fear is the opposite of faith.

I haven't figured out the answers yet, sorry. But I do believe that faith in a Divine purpose will help produce emotional flexibility. So I just keep practicing.

Karen Wright
A grandmother in love with her grandchildren
www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com
www.SeniorPro.com

Keeping in touch with grandchildren long distance

Karen Best Wright, www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com

It can be a challenge to keep in touch with the grandchildren who do not live near you, especially if you are one of the grandparents who are already raising some of your grandchildren. Phone calls may seem the obvious and are important, but there are more things that we can do to remind the children we are thinking of them. I recently created cards for a few of my grandchildren on my computer. I created a note about 5" x 7" and put a picture of me and the grandchild at the bottom of the card. I did this in a graphics program, but it could just as well be done by hand. Just make sure whenever you see your grandchildren in person that you get a picture of the two of you. That way you can add it to any cards that you send them. It makes it more personal when they read a note or letter and see the two of you together.

Please pass on any good ideas that you might have for keeping in touch with the grandchildren you are not raising.

Karen Wright
A grandmother who loves her grandchildren

TANF assistance differs from state to state for grandparents

By Karen Best Wright, www.RaisingYourGrandchildren.com

Grandparents who are raising grandchildren can apply for a child only TANF grant through their local department of social services. TANF stands for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and for grandparents raising grandchildren qualification depends on the child's income and the fact that no parent lives in the home.

What is interesting or perhaps better put disturbing is the great differences in the amount a grandparent might receive depending on the state they live in. In New York, a grandparent can get as much as $400/month for one child and and an additional $150/month for each additional child. I had one grandmother from Texas email me that for her 2 grandchildren she received less than $200/month for both children from TANF. A grandmother from Virginia wrote that because she received $275/month in child support for both her 2 grandchildren, she did not qualify at all for TANF.

TANF is a joint federal and state program. That is why states vary in what they pay. But if you are not already receiving TANF for your grandchildren, it is at least worth looking into.

Karen Wright
A grandmother who loves her grandchildren