DH and I have been asked to be Godparents for my cousin's baby who is due in April. We are already the godparents for their 3-yr-old son.

I was just wondering what everyone expects from your child's Godparents.
I sometimes feel like we're not doing a good enough job!

Katie's godparents (well, they will be once she's baptized next month!) are my cousin and her husband. They live in KS and we live in WA so obviously they can't geographically "be there" for Katie as she grows up, but I hope they will be there for her spiritually and emotionally. I expect them to be good Catholic role models as well as good parental role models/husband-wife role models.

It would be nice if they acknowledged her with a card or small gift on her birthday and major holidays, but that isn't expected.

We still don't have *Godparents* for Katie, since our church doesn't really do that, and we don't have a will yet. (I know... we need to get on the ball about that!) Anyway, my expectation, once we have them, will just be that they be interested in Katie as she grows up, and be the kind of parents to their own children that we would want Katie to have, if something happened to us.

Brooke, why don't you ask them what they expect you to do? I think everyone has different ideas of what godparents should do.

Dennis

Brooke, why don't you ask them what they expect you to do?
I don't think they expect much at all, except be there when/if they needed us. I think I'm not doing enough. If they were disappointed, I guess they wouldn't have asked us to be the Godparents for their 2nd child, too.

I think they want a couple who is relatively stable and who go to church. They would have chosen my sister and her DH this time but her DH is agnostic so he can't really support the baby spiritually.

I actually expect alot from Madison's godparents. I do get the feeling that its just something down here. Her godparents are my aunt and uncle, they've always been like parents to me. I lived with them for a good bit of my life and my aunt even cried when I told her I was pregnant! We're a very close family so thats probably why I expect more. Madison sees her godparents at least once a week. They dont have to buy her anything but I'd like for them to be there as much as possible. Im not close to my godfather because he was a friend of my mom and dad. They are no longer friends so hes no longer in my life. I do however still see my godmother alot, shes my mom's sister. For us asking someone to be a godparent is like asking them to take a special interest in the child's life, more so than if you were just an aunt or uncle. I think of it as being the first one there in an emergency and the first person to offer support if need.