Categories: uncategorized
Date: 11 October 2008 13:59:32
I would highly recommend the article about Godparents and cross generational friendship on the Telegraph site today.
It's a touching article which highlights the benefits of having inter-generational contacts outside of the immeadiate family. As a parent who has watched this sort of relationship start to develop between her daughter and the person who basically acts as her godmother I find it encouraging. The person who Third Party interacts with isn't her godmother, but has been about since my daughter was three and has been there at all the important times of my daughters life, (particularly when we were going through quite alot of funerals). Whilst I say this person isn't her godmother in effect she is really in all but name.
Being Baptists, until v. recently when I guess we've gone post-denominational, Third Party didn't actually have any godparents because in our tradition when a child is dedicated it's the whole church that does the standy up bit. This is something I think, in some ways, is sad yet it does allow for friendships to develop and for people to develop this role as the child grows, rather than involving somebody who you happen to know and think can fulfil the role when the child is young. As I said, in our case Third Party's sort of godmother came into our lives when she was three and was happy over time to slot into the role via her place in our urban family. As this person is an ickle bit younger than me the "auntie" label wouldn't have worked and also wouldn't have acknowledged the role this person has played in supporting Third Party spiritually, just like a traditional godparent. This role has always kind of been there, although never really stated and therefore I guess it was fitting when Third Party was baptised in the summer it was her "godmother if we weren't non-conformist" who was her towel holder.
I think that's all a really long winded way of saying I liked the article and if you happen to be a non-conformist who doesn't do godparents perhaps you may wish to look for somebody to fulfil that kind of role because there really is a place for it. Additionally, as I know Third Party's "godmother if we weren't non-conformist" reads this page occassionally I'd just like to say thank you to her. You are a legend whose place in our urban family is v. much appreicated.