Health research on grandparenting has two main themes. One is the mental and physical
stress for grandparents who find themselves thrust back into the full-time
parent role. The other is the social and psychological benefit for grandchildren whose grandparents pass along life skills, cultural traditions, unconditional love, and positive attitudes toward
aging. But a third theme is left largely unexplored: the health benefits of being Grandma or Grandpa.
Yet grandchildren have at least as much to teach their elders as vice versa. Kids’ creative outlook on the world and innate love of movement are habits of mind and body worth emulating at any age.
As a grandmother myself, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently. For most of their lives, my grandkids, ages three and almost five, have lived hundreds of miles away. For the last month, however, we’ve found ourselves not only in the same town, but also under the same roof. Consider this my thank you note to them.
Creative mindset
Creativity is child’s play - literally. Compared to grown-ups and older kids, young children tend to play in a lighthearted, spontaneous, original way that is relatively free of self-consciousness and unfettered by societal rules. Few adults have such a creative mindset. And it’s no coincidence that we describe those who do as being in touch with their “inner child.”
Being around kids or even imagining oneself as a child can help reawaken this creativity. A study published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts in 2010 is a case in point. In the study, 76 undergrads were randomly assigned to one of two writing tasks. In the control task, they wrote about what they would do if school were canceled for the day. In the experimental task, they wrote about the same subject, but from the imagined perspective of a seven-year-old. Those who viewed the situation through the eyes of a child produced more original responses.
Physical activity
Try this experiment: Walk around in a circle, drop suddenly to the ground, jump up to your feet, and repeat. Now keep this up for 15 minutes straight. You might be surprised by just how vigorous a game of ring-around-the-rosy can be.
When you join kids in active games and sports, you’re both getting a healthy dose of exercise. A MET (metabolic equivalent) is a unit for estimating the energy cost of a particular physical activity. One MET is the rate at which adults burn calories at rest - for example, while sitting quietly in front of the TV. In comparison, the approximate MET value of non-sports play with kids is 3.26 - similar to a typical yoga class. The MET value of playing sports with kids is about 5.00 - similar to playing softball with grown-ups.
Life satisfaction
By the time you reach midlife, it’s natural to start thinking about bridges to the future. Grandchildren help fulfill a strong developmental need for generativity - the desire to leave a legacy for generations to come. And meeting that need, in turn, makes life more meaningful and satisfying. A 2008 study in the International Journal of Aging and Human Development underscores this point. It showed that being a grandparent is satisfying because it provides a sense of purpose and a feeling of being valued.
As caregivers, mentors, role models, and family historians, grandparents share a unique bond with their grandchildren. I would like to think I have some knowledge and wisdom to pass on to my grandkids. But as I watch their openness to experience, insatiable curiosity, pure joy in simple pleasures, and childlike (of course) playfulness, I know beyond a doubt that there’s even more I can learn from them.
Linda Wasmer Andrews is grandmother to Taylor, lip-syncher extraordinaire, and Dylan, dinosaur king. She's also a freelance writer who specializes in health, psychology, and the mind/body connection.
Visit Linda online at LindaAndrews.com. | Follow her on Twitter.
