Grandparent
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A grandfather teaches his little granddaughter how to ride a kick scooter. |
Grandparents are
family members, the father and mother of a person's own
father and
mother, being respectively grandfather and grandmother. Grandparents form an important part of the
extended family.
In western societies, particularly the
United States of America given unstable
relationships and
relationship breakup between parents, high levels of unstable
cohabitation or
common-law marriage relationships and
divorce, grandparents have increasingly taken on the role of primary caregivers for their grandchildren.
In traditional cultures, grandparents often had a direct and clear role in relation to the care and
nurture of
children. This has tended to be lost with the development of the
nuclear family.
In traditional East Asian culture,
filial piety is the top moral under the influence of
Confucianism. The grandparents usually exercise its authority on the matter of family and their descendants should care and obey their seniors. This kind of structure gradually eases with the increasing influence of western culture and the increasing number of nuclear families. In
Hong Kong, some grandparents live with one of their children and assume the role of parent for grandchildren when grandchildren's parents are out to work all day.
Generally grandchildren use more informal terms to refer to their grandparents.
Familiar nicknames for
grandmothers in the
United States include Grandma, Gramma, Grams, Gram, Granny, Nana, Gummy, and in the
South, Maa Maw, Mee Mee, Mee Maw, Maw Maw and Memeré. Common names in the UK include Grandma, Gran, Granny, Mamma, Nanny, Nana, Nan, and Nan-Nan. Oma and Opa are also common terms for grandmother and grandfather in
Germany. Grandmother nicknames are usually culturally specific and taught to children through
baby talk.
Some common names for grandparents in
India are Beeji and Papaji, Dadaji and Dadiji, Nanaji and Naniji. There are many more in different regions.
In
Greece names for grandparents are Yia-Yia for grandmother and Papou for grandfather.
In
Brazil, names for grandparents are vó or vovó for grandmother and vô or vovô for grandfather.
Familiar nicknames for
grandfathers include Grandpa, Grandad, Granda, Grampa, Gramps, Grandpappy, Papa, and Grandaddy, and in the
South, Paa Paw.
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Family**
Cousin chart**
Father**
Mother**
Family law*
Child**
Illegitimacy*
Consanguinity*
Interpersonal relationship and
Intimate relationship**
Cohabitation**
Common-law marriage**
Divorce**
Marriage*
Management**
Grandfather principle*
Werther's Original*
For Grandparenting dedicated to raising grandparent consciousness and identity through education, research and networking.
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(USA) National Grandparents Day on the first Sunday after Labor Day.
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Grandparenting support database AARP*
Links to Australian grandparent support groups
