Child Neglect, So SAD

No I don't think it's neglectful. Some kids are unfortunate enough not to have grandparents that are able to attend such events. They might not have grandparents at all (deceased). Maybe the grandparents do not live nearby. Or maybe the grandparents are old and ill, such as with mine and hubby's parents. There are billions of reasons why a grandparent may not have been able to attend. It's unfair to automatically assume the grandparents just chose not to go for no reason.

I agree that it is a sad situation and I could think of a lot of reasons why the children had no one there for them. The grandparents could have been working, they might live to far away to come. Maybe the childrent are foster care so they don't have anyone, or the grandparents are deceased. When we went to my granddaughter's day, they had volunteers (I think) that came in with the kids, I also think that my daughter n law worked with one child that had no one there. If we had grandparents day when my kids were younger they would have had no one to go for them! My husbands folks lived in Tennessess, one grandmother lived 3 hours from us and worked and my mother was in a nursing home. But I would have been there with my kids. You can tell that since I been making comments on your discussions that I am not doing well with my assignment! I am having a hard time with it! This is more fun! Glad that your grandson has a grandmother that loves him. Also glad he knows his grandmother loves him.

That is sad. I'm wondering though if the child even has a grandparent. Or if the grandparent is even able to drive or get around, or lives near enough to show up. I remember when my son was in pre-school they had a family Thanksgiving luncheon. My husband and I were the only ones to show up. The look on all the kid's faces made me want to cry. However, I'm a stay at home mom so it was easy for me to show up and my husband was able to switch his job around. I guess for a lot of parents it's hard for them to take off from work for something like this.

Hi ya ANTIQUELADY Aww that is sad. I try to make every event that is going on at school that includes my kids, in fact I don't think I have missed any yet. I do get fed up of hearing some parents that say they can't be bothered and don't support their kids and they are the parents not grandparents. I know wholeheartedly that if my own mother lived closer then she would sure as heck make it to the school for whatever my kids needed support.

Re this particular situation, it would be hard to know the reason for non-attendance on the part of grandparents. The children involved may not have had living grandparents, sadly. Since families today are so far apart in distance, that could be another reason. Knowing also the terrible brokenness of families today, that could be another reason: family division and conflict. And, too, in this economic day and age, even those grandparents who might otherwise be retired, may have had to be at work. Every child has an innate desire to know his family lineage re establishing his own identity. And God has said, specifically in Proverbs 17:6, "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged". It is a very specially designed and ordained relationship. As the product of a multi-generational family, I have always been glad that I was able to live with and be instructed and guided by my grandparents, as well as my parents, and my uncle who lived with us until he married. Given today's "nuclear" family, however, there might just be even a "single parent" who does not attend school functions. It's sad. Even though I lived with my grandparents, I do not recall their being invited to any school functions or ever attending any; maybe, too,they may have felt that there could be a language barrier or other impediments to their comfort in those situations. Nonetheless, it is admirable that the school had such a day, especially in face of the fact that much of today's teaching and curricula are going in quite the opposite direction. Child abuse, neglect, crimes against innocents are rampant today. II Timothy 3:1-5 prophetically explains the reasons. The Casey Anthony case epitomizes the contagious explosion of abuse, even to the tacit approval given of such by the jury which failed to even try to understand the law or take the time to deliberate the evidence before them. "Lovers of self, disobedient to parents, HAVING NO NATURAL AFFECTION, unholy, proud, false accusers, boastful, unthankful, lovers of pleasure....." These are the "last generations" of the "perilous times" in which we live. And, since "generations" is a plural word, some of these abusers might be grandparents as well as parents.

I think this is very, very sad indeed, but we don't know the reason for the grandparents not being there. Could be they are just flakes, or it could be they had a legit reason. This is the kind of incident that breaks our hearts to see, but sometimes eventually turns out ok. This little boy might develope compassion for others being slighted as a result of his own experience of hurt feelings. It's not 'fair' but isn't this the way many grow and develop into sensitive people? In the meantime yes it's very very sad to see a little one going through hurt and nothing can be done about it. Maybe some other grandparent could offer to be a substitue for the night?

It is hard for kids as young as your grandson and his classmates to understand when something like this happens. My granddaughters live over six hundred miles away. I would hope, though, that if we could not be at this type of occasion and her other grandparents, who also live far away could not be there, that my daughter would ask one of her friends to stand in, or go herself. I know she had adults in her life that do those kinds of things. The teacher or school needs to be more sensitive and help make arrangements for these contingencies, I guess. In Head Start, when I worked there, we got to where we did not celebrate Mother's Day or Father's Day because several were without one or the other.

they might not have had any alive to come!

I loved going for grandparents day or lunch with the children. They were thrilled they all would get at a table and say grandma lets sit here. They walked me through the line to get my meal telling me how things worked. It was so cute and they introduced me to their friends they were so proud, their little faces beaming with pride. I loved it. Now they are all gone, moved away except one has come back to live with me. He is in high school and I don't know if they have grandparents day. If they do I will go. I am disabled but I try to make it to all the things the children do. I even volunteer to help out with parties and such. I understand that some grandparents are not around or they are ill and just can not make it. But if they only could just for that they would see what it means to the children. It is also very exciting for us.

I wonder what the story is behind this. Perhaps the grandparent is not alive anymore and this day brings that to mind and makes the poor little fellow remember better times. Or perhaps the grandparent is ill and unable to travel to the school for this celebration.

you know its possible that they have no grandparents alive or able to come. or even in other states or countries.

This must have been so sad to see. Perhaps the grandparents were out of State or something. I have a young friend who has a daughter about six years old and her grandmother is in the U.K. So I taker the place of her real Grandmother and I am introduced as her Grandmother in Jamaica It works out well at her school as all the teachers know me by now. She says it so seriously and with such pride. Makes me feel good.

I agree that for the child it is very sad that grandparents weren't present with him on Grandparents Day. However, there are many extenuating circumstances that could be the explanation for their absence. In my case, my son and the mother of my only grandson seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Their lifestyle is such that this is of grave concern to me and most certainly breaks my heart to not get to know my infant grandson and he me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should feel for the children, but also for the grandparents. I don't judge something or someone without knowing full details. Many do the best they can do...

I was lucky that they didn't have a grandparents day when I was in school. They don't where my kids go to school either. There really shouldn't be such a day so there isn't things like this happening. Like dads day, some kids don't get to see their dads for example. My kids school doesn't have days like that. If they had a day like that when I was a kid I would be one of those sad kids because my maternal grandma was in another state, my maternal grandpa was deceased, my paternal grandma was deceased and my paternal grandpa I only seen once in my whole life because my dad and him didn't get a long.

It is sad, but maybe there is a reason. Maybe the grandparents are ill or live far away. I hope that someone tried to include them a bit.

I wouldn't call it child neglect. My kids can't do grandparents day at school either. My parents lives 3 hours away, and their other two grandparents lives clear across the US in California and Washington St. Some grandparents aren't physically able to get out and do things like that. My mom tries her best to go to my niece's school at least for Thanksgiving dinner, but my dad isn't able to. Then my sister has to take her, since she can't drive. I wouldn't say they were cruel, hard to know without knowing the full story. Honestly, growing up I would only been happy if my dad's mom showed up. Doesn't mean I didn't love my mom's parents, just didn't care for them that much when I was little.

Did he even have grandparents? And if he did, maybe they were injured or sick. I'd like to think that might have been the case. It's just sad to think they might not have cared. I know my grandparents would never have been able to come because they lived hours away from us.

I find no excuse in any grandparent who neglected this special day! They can't just say they are too busy and have no time for this event. A grandparent's main concern at this point in his life should be the little ones that look up on him. How could the grandparents of those children ignore the feelings of these kids? I'm certain they really were upset for they felt left-out and unloved by their own grandparents. Yes you are right...cruel is the word and this indeed is a form of child abuse! So sad for these kids!

Well not to be mean but maybe his granparents are his guardian and have to work to support him so maybe he knew this but didnt want to say anything. My grandparents worked for a very long time until they passed away. I was 9 years old when my first grand mother passed away and i was 23 went my other grans mother passed away. I have a grand father who really isnt my grand father at all and i have a grand mother still out there that isnt my grand mother but i do consider them my grand parents at least. I know you think it is child neglect but ot me he should of just enjoyed the day no matter what really is going on in his mind. Like i said they could be working or possibly have passed away already depending on his parents age of course.

Well in my case if my granddaughter needed a grandparent to be in school for grandparents day she would not have neither set of grandparents, due to living far away. Her one set of grandparents live in Florida and the other set lives in Puerto Rico, while my granddaughter lives in New Mexico. So that could have been the problem with these kids. Now if the kids grandparents live in the area and were a no show the other reason could be that there grandparents were too sick to get to the school. The other thing could be that the child does not have grandparents due to dying. I seriously don't think a grandparent would stay away because they didn't want to participate. That would be cruel and then I wouldn't want my child to be bothered with a grandparent like that.