Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Relationship Drama

A friend of mine just came over for a bit this morning to talk about her frustration with her husband. He is being a bit mean and unwilling to help out in the household. They have their grandson while their daughter serves in Iraq. It seems her husband's expectations for their 7 year old grandson are a bit too high. He wants to "beat" him for the mishaps he does. She feels their grandson is doing some of the mishaps to gain his grandfather's attention. Very sad situation.
Grandpa was raised that a man doesn't show his feelings, the he sucks it up. He is trying to instill this same value in his 7 year old grandson. Not good. She is doing her best to show him contrary. Her grandson spends some of his time here at my house. He likes to talk and ask questions. I try to explain things to him and let him know, without talking bout his grandpa, how life works, how people are different, how people deal with things differently, just to give him some other perspectives.

It's rather sad because his face is so expressive. When he is sad, he tries so hard to be a big boy. Rather than complain, he gets really quiet. It's a very obvious difference in his behavior. When you ask him, "What's wrong?", he shrugs his shoulders and says, "Oh nothing. I'm fine."
If you don't have an idea of what is bothering him, it's hard to help him.

2 comments:

Elise said...

That's so sad. Grandpa is from a different generation and what worked for him wouldn't work for a child today. Nowadays children are encouraged to talk about their feelings. Its a good thing that you are there for the little boy. He probably misses him mother.

I think the Grandpa needs to have a heart to heart with his grandson. They both need to understand how the other is feeling.

I wish your friend luck and I hope the situation gets better. xx

presious said...

Elise,

I so agree with you. The way grandpa was raised doesn't work for him either. So, it really wouldn't work for his grandson. He is due to return to his mom some time next month. He is quite anxious to see his mom again.

Thank you for your comment...:)