In my dream, I specifically dreamed about Grace’s daughter, Ella. I saw that I took care of her for a year, but I’ll write more about that later. Having a young child in my house would require me to spend more time in group situations; conversely the people I would be around were younger parents. I suppose if this dream were foretelling, I could combat that by finding a grandparent support group where I could make acquaintances with people who are in a similar situation. However, I don’t know if these relationships would endure after Ella returned to her mother. In the next ten years I will likely have grandchildren. According to global health facts in the United States each woman has on average 2.01 children. (Keizer Foundation, 2014)
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In some ways I knew I would have it easier than other grandparents who take care of their grandchildren. According to Anne Strozier (2007), “Kinship care is defined as the full time care, nurturing and protection of children by relatives or any adult who has a kinship bond with the children” (p. 226) and while kinship care can be between any related adult and child it is often grandparents that take over the care of a grandchild when the parent is not able to. According to a study conducted in Florida by collecting information from Kinship Care Warmline, nearly 60% of the kinship caregivers were grandmothers. (Strozier, 2007, p. 235) I was also fortunate that the length of time was short. According to the same study, 41.2% of kinship caregivers had the children in their care for 5 or more years (Strozier, 2007, p. 236) while only 17.6 cared for the child for 1 to 2 years. (Strozier, 2007, p. …show more content…
It is likely that I wouldn’t be used to the daily care for an active three year old. Even at my current age that would be a burden, but in my dream I was several years older than I am now. Feeling an increase in stress is very common among grandparents caring for their grandchildren. According to a study cited by Climo, Terry and Lay,(2002) up to 86% of caregiving grandparents reported “feeling “depressed or anxious” most of the time” (p.20) I would guess that there would be nights that I would go to bed exhausted, but then couldn’t sleep due to anxiety. While this situation would be stressful, I would be more fortunate than many other custodial grandparents. According to a study done by Smith and Hancock (2010) the majority of grandchildren are living with their grandparents due to drug abuse or incarceration of the parents (p. 49) this crisis can lead some grandparents to feel that at the “time of the crisis” that there is no way to escape the situation” (Climo, Terry and Lay, 2002 p. 31) The grandparents feel responsible to keep their families
In some ways I knew I would have it easier than other grandparents who take care of their grandchildren. According to Anne Strozier (2007), “Kinship care is defined as the full time care, nurturing and protection of children by relatives or any adult who has a kinship bond with the children” (p. 226) and while kinship care can be between any related adult and child it is often grandparents that take over the care of a grandchild when the parent is not able to. According to a study conducted in Florida by collecting information from Kinship Care Warmline, nearly 60% of the kinship caregivers were grandmothers. (Strozier, 2007, p. 235) I was also fortunate that the length of time was short. According to the same study, 41.2% of kinship caregivers had the children in their care for 5 or more years (Strozier, 2007, p. 236) while only 17.6 cared for the child for 1 to 2 years. (Strozier, 2007, p. …show more content…
It is likely that I wouldn’t be used to the daily care for an active three year old. Even at my current age that would be a burden, but in my dream I was several years older than I am now. Feeling an increase in stress is very common among grandparents caring for their grandchildren. According to a study cited by Climo, Terry and Lay,(2002) up to 86% of caregiving grandparents reported “feeling “depressed or anxious” most of the time” (p.20) I would guess that there would be nights that I would go to bed exhausted, but then couldn’t sleep due to anxiety. While this situation would be stressful, I would be more fortunate than many other custodial grandparents. According to a study done by Smith and Hancock (2010) the majority of grandchildren are living with their grandparents due to drug abuse or incarceration of the parents (p. 49) this crisis can lead some grandparents to feel that at the “time of the crisis” that there is no way to escape the situation” (Climo, Terry and Lay, 2002 p. 31) The grandparents feel responsible to keep their families