Growing Old

Two weeks ago my brother and his wife gave birth to a baby girl, and my parents became grandparents for the 4th time. During that week I saw a lot of spoiling to their grandkids with giving them gifts, candies, and toys. My parents are so easy going with them and there is a lot of things that the grandkids can get away with(lets just say stuff they would never be able to do if their parents were around) This is what it means to them to be a grandparent, and most likely how I will treat my future grandkids. This idea of being a grandparent can change between cultures. In some cultures it may mean being more obedient to the grandkids, as compared to the way they were with their own children. Gardiner, in Lives Across Cultures, illustrates that as one becomes a grandparent in Japan they are to be treated with honour and repeated, even to the point where they wear the color red to show their 'status of honor' as being a grandparent. When I was home the other weekend I was visiting my grandmother at a elder residence where she lives. It got me thinking of how this idea of senior homes came to be and how different cultures have different ideas and beliefs of how to care for the elder. Growing up, because I have been exposed to it and it became apart of my belief system it seems natural to admit a grandparent into a home. However, some people may take offence to that and think that my family isn’t caring my grandmother, or that it seems disrespectful. Again, as Gardiner illustrates in Japan the elder are to be cared for directly from their children, often the oldest married son. Although, it is mentioned that this trend is changing among the Japenese culture as more elders are being placed in facilities to be cared for by care takers. For a Japenese elder to be admitted into a nursing home they must meet certain criteria: have no living children near by, not be bed ridden, be willing to enter the home, and obtain local welfare. The difference seen by the Japenese and my Canadian culture on the care of elder can be explained by the Japanese being a more collectivist culture, while Canada seems to be more individualistic. Culture is constantly changing however, and as mentioned before that the oldest son to care for the parents trend is slowly changing, this suggests that the Japanese culture may be moving away from a collectivist culture. It's interesting to think of how much things can change and what will become of the next 50 years.