How childhood and elderhood make us human
A growing body of research suggests that these life stages—which last far longer in humans than in any other animal—are responsible for the remarkable success of our species.
Anna Quindlen has learned to butt out
“Hang back,” Quindlen, who has two grandkids, advises grandparents in her latest book.
Why grandparents outnumber grandchildren
There used to be many more children than elders; now, for the first time in history, the old outnumber the young.
The year in grandparents
In 2018, I wrote about a caravan of grandparents who stormed the Texas-Mexico border to protest Trump’s treatment of migrant children, Gabriel García Márquez’s memories of his grandmother, and many other topics.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known then?
I asked grandparents around the country what they wish they’d known—but didn’t—when their first grandchild was born. Here are some of my favorite responses.
The Scottish grandmother and the wonky donkey
The world has fallen in love with the way Janice Clark reads to her grandson.
When your grandma is Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Clara Spera recently graduated from law school. Her inspiration was her grandmother, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Because of his grandma, Gabriel García Márquez knew magic was real
Until he was eight, Gabriel García Márquez was raised by his maternal grandparents and a bevy of aunts and servants in Aracataca, Colombia, a small town near the Caribbean Sea that he fictionalized in his most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. “I cannot imagine a family environment more favorable to my vocation than that lunatic house,” he later wrote.
Trump thinks this grandma is a threat to our country
Trump’s travel ban has torn apart thousands of families. Here is the story of one of them.
The restaurant where grandmas dish up the world
At Enoteca Maria on Staten Island, the menu changes daily, and so do the chefs: they are grandmothers from all over the world.
The best movies about kids and their grandparents
Most movies put grandparents on the sidelines, when they put them anywhere at all. Here are some great ones that give them their due.
The best picture books about kids and their grandparents
These books aren’t just stunningly written and illustrated. They also perceptively observe the complexities of the new American family.
The woman with 10,000 grandkids
Many kids in India are growing up far from their grandparents, so a grandma in Bangalore is using her smartphone to tell them bedtime stories.
A daycare center for all ages blooms in Milwaukee
“This is such a joyful place,” says a vice president of the St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. “The adults bring joy to the kids, the kids bring joy to the adults.”
How Baby Boomers and Millennials can help one another
A new app will connect young people who need housing with empty-nesters who need income.
The grandmas Trump has banned
A new Instagram feed celebrates the Muslim grandparents in the Middle East and Africa who are now banned from visiting their grandkids in the United States.