Wait, What? My Grandchild Is At Risk?
What do you do when your grandchild needs your help?
BY LISA HOLLIDAY
You notice things, you are a parent too and you know something isn’t right. Maybe it’s the dazed look in your grandchild’s eye or the unkempt house, but intuition is screaming for you to take notice. You need to do something and do something now.
What does it look like when you have to take your grandchild in? You go through a lot to get your grandchild in your care unless the parent hands them over willingly. How do you get a copy of their birth certificate, their social security number, or add them to your health insurance? How would you register them for school? What if you get your grandchild in the middle of the night, or without notice? You have to procure everything you need at a moment’s notice-a bed, clothing, food, the list goes on.
“I had gone through agony tracking my daughter, who was living in a car.”
For grandparents, this truly is a nightmare situation, and it is even worse for their grandchild. As a grandparent, you are stepping back into a parenting role and everything has changed since you had last done it. You are dealing with the feelings around your own child who has made a mess of things, and you are dealing with a child who has suffered trauma. You can add that you are not as young as you once were so your body screams at you, NOOOOOO! What if you are also in the workforce? What if you and your husband aren’t on the same page? What if you are a single grandparent? This certainly isn’t an ideal situation, but consider the alternative, like foster care.
“I have learned to embrace uncertainty.”
All of the things I mentioned above are what I went through, except I am not a single grandparent. My husband and I weren’t on the same page, and he felt like stepping in was in some way enabling our child to continue her bad behavior. Cooler heads prevailed and we realized this was the best thing for our grandchild, intervene and get her to safety and sort the rest out later. I had gone through agony tracking my daughter, who was living in a car. I had convinced her to meet me and that I would watch my grandchild while they attempted to get their life on track. I had nothing but the diaper she was wearing when they handed her over.
As a woman/grandparent/mother, I ran on pure adrenaline for months, making every decision on instinct and trusting my gut to show me the way. I have come out on the other side but it was two years of uncertainty. I have learned to embrace uncertainty.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Holliday is a mother and a grandmother. She is the Founder of www.helpinggrandparents.com and the author of Superhero “V” And Her Grand-Family. Lisa’s mission is to bring awareness, support, and resources to grandparents that are advocating on behalf of their grandchildren. Lisa has firsthand experience as she herself adopted her grandchild.