How to Cope While Raising Your Grandchildren

• Share the workload between you.
• Keep the lines of communication open between the two of you.
• Together prioritize your goals, needs, and wants.
• Take small steps. Attempting to do too much will do you both in.
• Lower your expectations of yourselves, especially when it comes to housekeeping.
• Don't give up everything for your grand kids.
• Find ways to take trips with one another, even if it is only for a few days.
• It's okay to ask for help. AARP's Benefits QuickLINK provides helpful information.
• Join a support group of others in the same situation.
• Make time for yourselves. Your grandchildren need you to be healthy both physically and emotionally. You need time to re-group and to be re-energized.
• Remember why you are doing this. Focus in on what you have done right and not on what you are giving up.

Statistics on Raising Grandchildren

What Grandparents Need

• 1
• 2
• 3