Beware of Grandma aka the Principal

Being a retired principal is almost entirely a good thing! Sleeping in, time for regular exercise, and free evenings are just a few luxuries of my present situation. There are, however, some times when retirement is not so perfect.

I find myself wanting to get too involved in events (usually social justice issues). For example, if kids don’t stand during the National Anthem, I tell them to stand. Despite retirement, if a young person rings our doorbell with a sales pitch, I first ask them which school they attend, their teacher’s name, and their favorite subject. If the inquiry from a stranger doesn’t send the kid screaming down the street, then I buy their product. It’s not that I want to frighten the youngster. I just want to know. I make the same inquiries to our grandkids.

Stay Involved with Your Child’s Education…Even as Grandma

Beyond those inquiries, I still want to know what’s going on in schools. I visit the schools where I worked to get the latest information, but I rely on my grandkids for the most up-to-date issues like drugs, testing, problems caused by social media, etc. Our grandkids are pretty well-behaved, so what I think is an issue isn’t one to them and vice versa.

Ask Your Children Questions About School and Activities

At the beginning of each semester, I still ask the same questions: What classes are you taking? Who are your teachers? What grades did you get last semester? I can only imagine how our grandkids feel knowing that I know their teachers and their principals. They’ve never told me about any bad experiences because I’m their grandma, but I’m sure there have been some close calls.

Encourage Your Child to Make Their Best Effort

I’ve never been obsessed with grades. For me, it’s more about the best effort. I think I started this philosophy when our girls were growing up, and I was taking classes for my doctorate. There are times when I probably didn’t pay enough attention to our kids’ grades or push them enough. Our girls were good students, but if I had made the effort could they have been better? Yes. Guilt continues to be a part of my life.

I don’t ask the grandkids about their grades much—just at the end of each semester. Right or wrong, we have decided to pay the grandkids for their GPA. We don’t pay a great amount, and it certainly doesn’t ruin our budget. Funny thing is, I never thought it was a good idea when parents sat in my office and told me they paid their kids for their grades. I always thought kids should be self-motivated to do well. Fast-forward to my life as grandma—what makes me think it’s a good idea now? Maybe it’s from the guilt of not hovering over our girls when they were younger or maybe because I’m the grandma now and I said it’s okay.

So what’s my point? Stay involved with the education of our young people. Regardless if you are a doting grandparent, a it’s-not-the-way-they-did-it-when-I-went-to-school type or somewhere in between. Those scholars of today are the leaders, inventors, doctors, and scientists of tomorrow who will make our world a better place for our great grandchildren.

Hmm. I wonder what our grandkids will be when they grow up? I wonder if I’ll know their boss?