‘Grandparents as Parents’
Conference promotes support, resilience
This year’s theme, “The Resilient Caregiver: Strength Through Support,” focused on empowering those who are raising children for a second time, according to a release.
The conference aims to equip grandparents, relative caregivers and professionals with practical tools, valuable resources and up-to-date information to strengthen caregiving skills, promote resilience and build supportive networks.
One of our own at the farragutpress, writer Jake Nichols, has personal experience with this dynamic and felt its impact from an early age.
“Having been raised by my grandmother from ages 12 through 18, I have observed the different ways she had to operate through the years. Although she still spoiled me plenty as my grandmother, she could not exercise that same approach all the time since she had to be a fill-in parent as well,” Nichols said. “Now that I’m older, though, I’m so grateful for that dynamic and how it shaped our relationship. She is still my closest confidant and, as a former English teacher herself, is one of the reasons I became a writer.”
The “Grandparents as Parents” event took place from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Rothchild Catering & Conference Center, 8807 Kingston Pike.
Educational sessions at the conference included “Therapeutic Gardening,” “Vaping 101” and “Putting the Oxygen Mask on First: How Caregivers Can Recognize and Regulate Their Emotions and Help Youth Do the Same.”
