There is a set of grandparenting roles a person who is getting ready to fulfilling this function has to know, as they can bright about a huge emotional, intellectual, moral and education contribution in the development of a child during his or her life way. According to the opinion of Arthur Kornhaber (2002), there are the following roles a grandparent may implement in communication with a grandchild: ancestor, buddy, hero, historian, mentor, nurturer, spiritual guide, teacher and student, and wizard.
The way they are implemented in a specific set of ways and have a set of functions they are targeted at. Some of them offer the emotional connection of a grandparent and a grandchild; others have an intellectual and informative coloring, introducing the grandparent’s experience to the child and making him more intelligent and knowledgeable about different phenomena, events, and processes in the world. For this reason, a grandparent has to choose the role he or she considers appropriate for achieving the stipulated goals for the interaction.
Another variable influencing the choice of roles is the type of relations between the grandparent and the grandchild that have been established because of a combination of factors and the life situation in the family. Grandparents may fulfill their roles on a full-time or part-time basis, they may be step-grandparents or may raise an adopted child; they may also be long-distance grandparents who see their grandchildren too rarely to fulfill the whole scope of functions and roles they are potentially capable of.
What is necessary to remember is that grandparenting roles are dynamic and the person who exercises them may vary the choice according to the situation. To achieve better educational results and at the same time not to lose emotional contact as well as spiritual closeness the grandparent should always thoroughly think the strategy of applying his or her roles depending on every particular situation.
In order to understand grandparenting roles better, it is necessary to consider each of them separately and in more detail. So, speaking about the first role, the one of an ancestor, it is evident that grandparents exercising this role are initially the givers of experience and knowledge. This role may be applied in the minutes of sharing the life wisdom and explaining some trivial and non-trivial things in life grandchildren do not know yet. In this role the grandparent may tell his or her grandchild the history of their family, make him or her acquainted with family traditions and values, thus making the link between the past and the future and continuing the ancestral line.
The role of a buddy is almost solely emotional and does not have any educational coloring. A grandparent is a friend, a conspirator, and a supporter who may be less demanding and tough than parents, this way ensuring the grandchild’s trust and devotion.
A hero is a living example of what a child may become in life under the condition of following certain rules, morals, and principles and being a good, wise person. If grandparents have their own experience to offer and may catch the child’s attention, then they may become a wonderful pattern for their grandchildren. A historian is much like an ancestor, but a historian is more detached in his or her informing the child about the past, the times of his or her youth, maturity, and childhood, thus connecting the history with the present ensuring the continuation of the historical process.
The role of the mentor is more formal as the grandparent still has power over the grandchild, though less than parents. A nurturer is a role actually contrary to the one of mentor – if the mentor controls the child and may even reprimand him or her for wrong behavior, then the nurturer is the child’s salvation and refuge from a reprimand. Spiritual guides and wizards are a part of a mystery grandparents represent for their grandchildren, so these roles are also mostly emotional. A teacher and a student is the shifting role of a person who may not only teach but may also learn something from life even at the old age.
Thus, every grandparent should be knowledgeable about the roles he or she may exercise in the process of upbringing a grandchild and apply them in different contexts. Under the condition of the correct application of grandparenting roles, every individual may achieve much deeper and broader results than in raising their children.