Last update: February 07, 2016
It is often said that when everything falls apart, the only thing left to us, the only really important thing is our family. Whether small or large, peaceful or troubled, most of us turn to a member of our family when we really need intimacy, care, and peace of mind.
It is a great fortune that not all people have, for the most diverse reasons. And it is good to take that into consideration not all families are based on blood ties, but many people have made theirs friends their family, because they found in them the respect and understanding that the biological family denied them.
Regardless of who your family is, watching them grow up is one of the most fascinating things in life. Observing a new generation that upsets everything with its cheerfulness and innocence manages to infect parents, grandparents and uncles with happiness.
Often we tend to underestimate the role of uncles in children's lives, but the truth is that a special bond is established between uncles and nephews with well-defined characteristics, which are worth explaining. Because being an uncle is one of the most wonderful gifts life will give you!
Learn what it means to take care of a child
The first diapers, the first uncontrolled crying and the first panic attacks when we confuse the cream of cereals with milk powder. The tension when we take in our arms what for our brother or sister is the greatest treasure of all ... For an uncle, there is no better teaching.
The first time you take your grandson in your arms, you feel that all the strength and affection of your family has miraculously taken shape in that little creature that could not seem more perfect to you.
Gradually you take on more responsibility and start taking care of your grandson for longer, until you realize that neither panic nor fear are good allies. Begin to master the art of protecting, giving affection and feeling love without expecting anything in return. because its simple presence deserves everything: your sleep, tiredness and clothes stained with substance in the most different colors.
Give the brothers some respite
When you realize the responsibility involved in caring for your grandchildren for a few hours, you immediately feel a greater empathy for what your brother or sister is going through.
And if it was your sister who experienced pregnancy and childbirth, with all that this entails, feel that prudence and understanding are the best way to ensure a good relationship between everyone.
Doing a favor and receiving something even better in return doesn't happen every day, so thanks to your presence you can give your siblings a few hours of sleep, a quiet shower and a few moments of intimacy in the couple, and in exchange, you can spend time with that little creature that has shocked the whole world.
After all, taking him for a ride in the stroller, showing him your shopping to see his expressions of approval and see how he plays and runs after the pigeons is not such a terrible task!
They grow in height and you in size
The position of an uncle or an aunt is very comfortable. You can enjoy all the benefits of a grandson, without having the primary responsibility for his education. But there is nothing wrong with it, everyone knows it and you know it too… Therefore, enjoying this advantageous situation is the best thing you can do.
Only an aunt can hug like a mom, advise like a friend, pamper like a grandmother, and keep secrets like a sister.
It is at this point that you will begin to understand how important you can be to each other. When you establish a relationship of affection and fun, it respects the rules given by the parents, but creates a new special bond between you.
Step back into childhood
Parents are responsible for passing on to their children values ​​and a discipline that the whole family must respect, to strengthen their authority and at the same time reinvigorate the child's system of rules and permissions.
When caring for your grandchild, you must be aware that you must follow these educational rules, but since they have already been established, you will have much more time to play and "explore new worlds".
Keeping up-to-date with the news in cartoons and the fun stories your grandchildren make up when they watch them, inventing new dances, choreographies and games where you might end up pretending to be a cat, a dog or a vampire is a quick workout. and effective to lose the sense of ridicule even in front of adults.
You are their support in the face of the first tears and worries
Even if sometimes their way of seeing the world softens us and their existential dilemmas seem like "children's" things to us, even the little ones experience their worries and disappointments with great intensity.
For better or for worse, the filter necessary to understand the functioning of certain things is not yet well established in them, and this means that any reproach of an adult or joke of their friends can be experienced as a real drama. But next to them you are there, ready to support them and dry their first tears.
Their world is full of symbols, of invisible friends, of dreams that have to do with a job in the world of magic or in the emergency room of any animal. Nature is a way for them to play and express themselves, and their senses merge with the reality in which they live.
They feel the rain, the moss of the trees and the wet earth as an extension of their imagination. This is why their sensitivity is so special and you have to explain things to them with affection and a pinch of magic: so that they can understand what is serious without damaging their well of innocence and tenderness. This is their moment, the best age of human beings ... Let's help them not to break the spell!
Keep their purest essence, one day they will be adults and will want to relive it
Keep all the memories you have of your grandchildren as a treasure, because parents and grandparents are often so busy that they don't have time to do so.
Get them to draw or write, make them a video where they tell what they want to be when they grow up, what is most important to them or why they love life. Take lots of pictures and write down what you did together in a notebook. Tell them that you are making a "treasure of time," which you will show them when the time comes.
Make them partakers of the magic you feel towards them. Each of us dreamed of having something like this in childhood: now you can create it, for you and for them. This is why being uncles is wonderful!
