ABSTRACT
Looking at grandparenting styles is only one way to understand the vital roles people play in the lives of their grandchildren. Another way to understand the ways people grandparent is to distinguish between the instrumental and symbolic tasks they perform. One good grandmother went a long way with her stories, her store of old fashioned songs, and her vanishing skills in making gingerbread men and cookies. With these pleasures children absorbed a sense of the past, could measure time in meaningful biological terms, when grandmother was young, when mother was young, when the author was young. The role of family historian need not be limited to large projects or complicated traditions. It may also mean passing down a particular recipe to your grandchildren or an especially beloved melody of a lullaby. One of the greatest gifts one can give to their grandchildren is providing a model that they can learn from and emulate.
