Hey Friends,

This week Retazo is the last one of the series. In case you have missed the earlier parts, you can read Part -1 here, Part - 2 here and Part 3 here.

In this age of Artificial Intelligence and robotic reliance, we are constantly rewiring our minds away from the otherwise easily available & most effective training environment for children. Staying in a nuclear family has its own merits and demerits but the most obvious one is seriously hampering the development of core social skills.

Atleast mine did. I distinctly remember that she paid a special attention to all of us in an unique way. But as the time progressed this trend is fading away. Countless studies have shown the extraordinary benefits grandmothers have on contemporary families. A meta-analysis of many studies have found that where the grandmothers are involved along with the mothers, you will find more well-adjusted children. I prefer to call grandmothers humanity’s “secret benefactors.”

So what are these grandmothers actually doing? They’re teaching children core social skills like how to cooperate, how to be compassionate, how to be considerate.

The primary reason which comes to my mind is that “more involved the grandmothers are, the more involved fathers are, too.” The Yin - Yang of this dynamics is that “Parents take the lead in disciplining negative behaviour of children, leaving grandparents free to encourage positive behaviours in them.

Researchers at Brigham Young University in Utah interviewed adolescents about their relationship with their grandparents, especially when grandparents are involved. The study found that children are more social, more involved in school, and more likely to show concern for others. 

1. Show them the money :- Byron Trott once said that most parents have an instinctive reluctance to be honest with their kids about money— how it’s made, lost, invested, and spent. Letting them know will do a less harm and more good to them.

2. Take off the training wheels:- One of the biggest problems I see around is that people do have a general reluctance to let kids make decisions for themselves. Start from the smaller ones and gradually let them take the bigger ones too.

3. Accept their passions:- Most families really don’t let their children follow their passions. They assume the parents’ passion is the children’s passion, and usually, it’s not. It’s equally important to allow them to be outliers in their dreams.

4. Warren Buffett is famous for not wanting to spoil his kids. Instead, after his wife gave each of their three kids $ 100 million, and the money didn’t ruin them, Buffett gave each one a $ 1 billion foundation. Interestingly, when he was asked whether money inherently spoils children? One of Warren’s sons is a farmer; another is a musician. This is what he said :