Make Your Grandparents Happy While on a Break

By Melissa Burns

Grandparents are very special people who always do their best to give us their love and support. The depth of their feelings cannot be measured, and it’s only fair that you return them by helping any way you can.

The best thing a student can do is to show them that you care by frequent visits and calls. When you are a child this is enough, but when you grow older, you can do lots of other things to express your feelings and make your grandparents’ lives easier in the process.

So, the next time you go on a break from the college or university, consider helping your grandparents in one of these ways:

Help your grandparents conquer technology

If your grandma and granddad aren’t good with tech, take the time to teach them how to use all the modern appliances and gadgets effectively. Be sure to research apps that would help make their lives easier. For example, scheduling tools to keep track of their doctor visits, meetings, or times when they have to take some medications.

Depending on their interests and hobbies, you can introduce them to games or specialized mobile apps. Be sure to go over communication solutions, like Skype and Viber, and use them frequently to stay connected to your grandparents even when you are back in school. You can also use this opportunity to help them find their friends through social networks.

Build a brand new custom coop

If your grandparents live in the country or at least have a large enough backyard, raising chickens can be a great and highly fulfilling pastime. They bring eggs, they are easy to care for, and they can be a great help in supporting the health of your garden. Even as little as 5 hens in the household will be enough to enjoy the benefits they offer.

Pre-fabricated coops are expensive and usually made from poor-quality materials that won’t last through a single winter. Therefore, it’s best to look up chicken coop plans online and make your own. There are great sturdy constructions that are so easy to make, a teen with no prior training can complete them in a few days.

Building your own coop will be highly cost-efficient as you can make a really good one investing about $100-150, while a pre-fabricated model will cost at least $300. You can increase the cost-to-value ratio further by choosing to build from sustainable and sturdy materials that will last for years.

Spring clean, paint, remodel, or otherwise renovate the house

Your grandparents can be active and healthy, but years take their toll on everyone, so completing major projects is difficult for them. Discuss this matter with them in advance so that you can prepare all the necessary materials and find instructions to make the best use of the vacation you spend at their home.

You can also use this time to help your grandparents prepare for major projects that you cannot do on your own, like roof replacement or major renovation.

Go on an adventure together

Take your grandparents out to gift them with some new impressions and just have fun together. To get the best results, you should have two adventures, one where you introduce them to one of your favorite pastimes that they don’t know yet. The other where you do something your grandparents enjoy so that you can learn more about them.

These bonding trips can be something simple, like going to the movies or playing bingo with your grandma’s club. However, they are extremely valuable from the emotional point of view.

Be there for your grandparents

No matter what exactly you choose to do, it’s your visit itself that counts most. Your grandparents appreciate the attention and love, so do your best to show them how much you care and stay in touch.

Melissa Burns graduated from the faculty of Journalism of Iowa State University in 2008. Nowadays she  is an entrepreneur and independent journalist. Her sphere of interests includes startups, information technologies and how these ones may be implemented.