HKFWS takes a “Family-centric” perspective for service development. We believe family is paramount and devote ourselves to strengthen family wellbeing. Regardless of family backgrounds or facing difficulties, we are pleased to provide support. We also utilise community resources to alleviate their imminent hardships. Some advices are provided by our professional team derived from their past working experience here for your reference when you are in need.
My wife recently arranged after-school dance lessons for our daughter, and plans to enrol her in painting and music theory classes too, in the hope of her advancing to her favourite primary school next year. Meanwhile, my mother is worried that she will have little time to meet my daughter because of the over-whelming interest classes, and often complains to me that my wife does not care about our daughter. Caught in the middle between my wife and my mother, what should I do to ease their relationship?
As a middleman between your wife and your mother, you may have experienced great pressure. If you would like to ease their relationship, we encourage you to take the initiative to communicate with them. You can express your appreciation and understanding for their care about the child. After building the rapport, you can hence balance their expectations and facilitate them to put themselves in others’ shoes as to recognise though their opinions are different, both of them are doing for the sake of the child's growth. For instance, the wife is worried about her daughter's skills and academic development, while the mother is concerned about her granddaughter's happiness, worrying that the child would be too tired and wouldn’t have time to meet her. When both of them recognise each other’s care about the child, they may understand one another more easily.
If you are interested in learning different skills of being a coordinator at home to deal with inter-generational family relationships, you may join the "Multi-Generation Co-Parenting Training Course" organised by Women and Family Enhancement Centre (Enquiry Tel: 2811 5244)
Source: Ms. Heung, Social Worker (Women and Family Enhancement Centre), Hong Kong Family Welfare Society
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