My mom was one of eight children and her mother was one of 13. Somehow, someway, large families survive. God keeps a godly line existing, even if it isn't thriving. He will be working on sanctification with all of us until the end.
Parents of a large number of children find that they do well (if their situation accommodates it) to train their older girls to help significantly– and train the younger children to do everything they can do by themselves. That is usually how large families cope. Part of the solution is to redistribute the load.
Busy grandparents can, perhaps, work with them on weekends, vacations, evenings, days off work/school, overnights, camping, etc. If you find yourself in that situation as a grandparent, here’s a suggestion for what to do when you’ve becoming irritated or bothered by one of the young grandchildren: for instance when one of them is screaming habitually. Leave – do not assume the role of you being the caretaker of that child. Let the full weight of whatever problem it is land on the parents. More and more, let your main modus operandi be to pull out several of the grandchildren from there and work with them outside of that setting – where you can control the order around you. This strategy isn't first best, but it IS second best. And pray, always. Whatever it is, it will be a deep work, done by the Lord Himself.
Through it all, find pockets of peace for yourself, and function in atmospheres that are maintained and controlled by YOU. Try to arrange your life that way, so you can largely avoid the conflicted settings. Grandparents are OLDER – our nerves (and our muscles and ligaments) are not so supple, strong and flexible as they were when we were raising our own children. We all have to make adjustments as we age, see the stresses coming, and guard ourselves a little more.
For more ideas for grandparenting, see our e-Book on How to Be Very Nearly Perfect Grandparents.
