The year in grandparents
In 2015, I wrote 75 stories, some of which were more popular than others. Here are the 10 that got the most clicks. Happy reading and happy New Year!
How to interview your grandparents
“Imagine it: During the holidays, instead of using gadgets to ignore each other, we might use them as an excuse to look each other in the eye and listen.”
Here’s to you, Mia
This time of year, I always think of my grandma Mia, who made me feel safe, special, and loved for 22 years.
Why isn’t there more help for grandparents raising grandkids?
Nearly three million American grandparents are raising at least one of their grandkids, but there’s hardly anywhere they can turn for support. Here are the best national resources I’ve come across.
What grandparents got for Christmas in 1914
Here’s some shopping advice that ran in the New-York Herald Tribune on December 1, 1914 under the headline “Gifts for the Grandparent.”
“Over the river, and through the wood”
The story behind the famous poem about a boy who’s bursting with excitement to see his grandparents on Thanksgiving.
“My grandchildren are the best medicine for whatever might ail me”
When Marsha Boyer was diagnosed with cancer, she feared her grandkids would never know her. Here’s what happened next.
We’ll be speaking hundreds of languages as we eat our turkey
About 20 percent of the United States population speaks a language other than English at home, and a total of 350 languages are spoken here, according to a new report from the Census Bureau.
It takes a village to pay the bills
More and more older Americans are giving money to their children and grandchildren, and the amount they’re giving is rising.
How to be a grandparent to a kid who needs one
Here’s a beautiful video about the national Foster Grandparent program, which pairs volunteers ages 55 and over with children who need a tutor, a mentor, or both.
Margaret Mead learned everything from her grandma
The legendary anthropologist Margaret Mead was homeschooled for most of her childhood by her grandmother, an iconoclast who rejected rote instruction as “stultifying” and emphasized learning by doing instead.
Can a grandma stand in for a dad?
Children who live with a single mother and at least one grandparent fare just as well as children who live with both parents, research shows.
In elephant families, Grandma is boss
A family of elephants is led by its eldest female, who’s often a grandma many times over. And the older she is, the better, scientists have learned.
Obama’s birth meant a new life for his grandparents
Stanley and Madelyn Dunham didn’t know many black people until their daughter fell in love with a college classmate from Africa.
“Laughter once again fills my house”
When her son died in 2012, Denise Villescaz “saw no light,” she says. Then, two years later, her granddaughters were born.
The biggest love she’s ever known
“Having grandchildren expands your heart beyond all boundaries you’ve ever known,” says Elaine Dove of Tustin, California. “It’s like loving your children on steroids.”
How to help a teenager thrive
A new study finds that teens who maintain close, loving relationships with their grandparents suffer fewer emotional and behavioral problems than their peers.
A child is born, and the whole world shifts
Tammi Williams, whose daughter is gay, was “horrified and scared” when she and her wife decided to have a baby with the help of a male friend they barely knew. But then, Tammi says, everything changed.
Help a child to wonder
It’s not important that children know about nature, Rachel Carson believed; what matters is that they delight in it. But they won’t unless they’re shown the way, she warned.
Grandparents are younger than you think
The media paints grandparents as old, but studies show most of them aren’t.
Let’s stop pretending grandparents just bake cookies
Isn’t it time we discarded the myths and misconceptions about grandparents and started giving them their due?
Is grandparenting good for you?
Babysitting for grandkids may boost your wellbeing, but if you’re pressured into providing care, you may suffer.
Why stepgrandparents matter
“Standing at one remove from the new partnership, and all the hue and cry the blending of a family can involve, they have the potential to play a unique role for the stepgrandchild—part grandparent, part wise, trusted confidante.”
Do you dream of living near your grandkids?
There are a lot of good reasons to move closer to your grandkids. Then again, there are some good reasons to stay where you are. I asked some grandparents who made the move what happened next.
My hero
Maybe I would have made it through my 20s without him. But, to be honest, I can’t imagine how.
A grandma and her grandson learn to swim
Mary Walker and her 17-year-old grandson are taking swimming lessons together at a pool in Tulsa, Okla.
To nurture your family, nurture yourself
Parents and grandparents need one another. How can they learn to get along?
The Grandmother’s Gallery of Art
A grandma in Massachusetts saves “every single thing” her granddaughters scribble, paint, sculpt, and glue.
Meet the grandmas of the Mississippi Delta
A new book profiles more than 50 black women who suffered brutal discrimination as children but survived to make a better life—and a better world—for their heirs.
Meet the First Grandmother
“It’s important to remember the White House is such a bizarre place,” says the author of a recent book on the Obamas. “I think Mrs. Robinson acts as a calming presence.”
The art of love
There’s not enough good art about the bond between kids and their grandparents, so I asked Rebecca Layton, an illustrator based in Austin, to create some.
Are Chinese-American grandparents under too much stress?
Chinese Americans often devote long hours to their grandchildren, but many of them experience this as a burden, a new study reveals.
“I grew up with the possibility of magic”
Isabel Allende, a novelist with millions of readers around the world, says her grandparents shaped both her character and her career.
Everyone on earth is this man’s cousin
A.J. Jacobs, a journalist and bestselling author, thinks he can build a family tree for all of humanity. Here’s what he told me about his project, his grandparents, and his most famous ancestor.
A grandmother and her granddaughter graduate side by side
Cathy Williams, 62, and her granddaughter, Chelsea Washington, both earned bachelor’s degrees this spring from the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee.
“Grandmas and grandpas are everything nice”
This poem was written in 1962, but it’s pretty timeless, don’t you think?
Hunt, teach, love: What grandparents do in the rainforest
Grandparents have been going to bat for their grandkids for hundreds of thousands of years, a new study of South American foragers suggests.
In army families, grandparents are heroes, too
A letter from a grateful mother whose husband was deployed a dozen times.
British grandparents may get a break
Politicians in Britain have realized that grandparents are struggling to balance work and childcare just as parents are.
First they were playmates. Then they were soulmates.
Lisa Drayer got 40 years with her grandmother. They were never closer than at the end.
Do grandparents know the secret to happiness?
Mo Rocca hopes the grandparents on his TV show can teach him how to live.