Family Tradition Can Be Transmitted to Children Through Their Grandparents
Video Transcribed: Reason number four that your grandchildren need you. Family tradition and culture. Hi, I’m Oklahoma Grandparents Rights Attorney, Justin Mosteller, and I’m going to spend a little bit of time today talking to you about this very important facet of the relationship between a grandparent and a grandchild.
Family tradition and culture are transmitted to children through their parents, through their surroundings, and through their grandparents most importantly.
In fact, I think that the role of grandparents in transmitting family tradition and culture is more important than that of parents because the grandparents can tell a larger story than the parents can. That context provides meaning to a child’s life.
Being unmoored from your own traditions and cultures can leave a child feeling … Dealing with issues about their identity that they shouldn’t have to deal with. It’s very important. Particularly in the context of when a parent dies and that side of the family might be erased completely from that child’s life and understanding.
I once had a case where my client was the paternal grandmother and the father of the child had passed away and the maternal grandmother was really the only person in this child’s life that could explain their culture and their family traditions to this child.
They were a Hispanic family and the placement for the child was ultimately a white family and it became very, very important for that grandmother to be there, to kind of expose the child to a part of himself that he otherwise wouldn’t have seen.
It really does make a difference in a child’s life. They grow up more firmly rooted in the place where they are and the people that are around them and the story and the narrative of that family. It’s really invaluable.
So hopefully this has explained a little bit more about why your relationship with your grandchild is so important and it’s my hope that this series will inspire grandparents to do more for their grandchildren and to fight hard to keep their relationship with their grandchildren, even when a parent is denying contact. If you have any more questions, feel free to seek counsel from our office to speak with a Grandparents Rights Attorney in Oklahoma, we’d be happy to help.