Is anybody here a godparent?

[elspeth]

I've just heard that my best friend is pregnant, so there's a very strong possibility that I'm going to be a godmother in the autumn...

Fairy jokes aside, how does one be a good godparent, especially when one doesn't live terribly near the child in question? What's involved?

My godparents were (well, still are!) my aunt and uncle... but I was never really aware of them doing anything over and above being my aunt and uncle.

[pianowolfi]

Well spontaneously I think that there are all these old traditions that make us feel commited to do or not do something... I mean, you can love these childs without subscribing yourself to a bunch of commitments, I think. I just write this because I am a "godfather" (what a really strange word btw) who neglected his "commitments" extremely. I don't see any sense in some religious traditions that make us feel always guilty. Be free. Love. Be human.

[thalbergmad]

I think wolfi has summed it up nicely.

My Godparents lived hundreds of miles away and i only ever saw them a few times.

Thankfully, i have never been asked to be a godparent and i doubt if i will.

Thal

[rc]

So far as I know it just means if the parents kick the bucket then you have to take over.

[berrt]

So far as I know it just means if the parents kick the bucket then you have to take over.

Exactly. It had more importance in former days, when that happend more frequently and there was no other social safety line.

B.

[general disarray]

I'm not a godparent, but I've had the benefit of a godmother, my aunt, who came into my life after the death of my parents in an accident when I was 16.  She was sort of a distant figure, until my world changed.  She lived far away from me, in Costa Rica, and I was away at school, but she phoned weekly and sent me airline tickets to her home for every holiday.  She was very loving and made me feel that I wasn't truly alone.  She died last year.  When I think of my parents I think of her as well, kind of in the same breath, you know?

[elspeth]

So the physical distance wasn't really an issue for you, then? I am at least in the same country as my potential godchild!

[zheer]

   Am totally fatherless, i've lost both my grandfathers and my father aged 10, sad i know  . Godparents are great, they can be even better than real parents.
   I wounder what its like to be a parent, must find out one day.