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.
She lost her daughter to murder. Will her grandson be taken from her, too?
A grieving mother seeks justice.
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.
Japanese millennials are building lives with their grandparents
In search of meaning, urban 20-somethings in Japan are migrating to the countryside to live with or near their grandparents.
What is age segregation and why is it bad?
For the most part, we spend time with people close to us in age. Here’s why we should branch out.
If you’re worried about your grandkid, speak up, scientists say
Grandparents often suspect autism before parents do, but they sometimes hesitate to voice their concern, a new study reveals.
Can a grandma’s cooking mend a teenager’s broken heart?
When she was dumped by her boyfriend, Awanthi Vardaraj thought her heart would never heal. Then her grandma coaxed her into the kitchen.
“I know that they need me, but I need them more”
Thanks to Francie Robertson of Cascade, Montana for submitting this poem, which she wrote when her grandson Titus was a baby, his brother Jude was 2, and she was their daytime caregiver.
What you can do to help refugees right now
Are you looking for ways to support refugees in your community and around the world?
“Grandmammy was all the world to me”
Though Frederick Douglass was born into slavery, he was “a spirited, joyous, uproarious, and happy boy,” thanks to his grandma, who raised and protected him.
What do your grandkids call you?
I’ve been asking grandparents around the country what they’re called and why. Here are a few of their stories.
How can grandparents help kids with autism?
The monumental stress of raising a child with autism can be eased by grandparents, who are often “ideally suited” to provide parents with support, scholars say.
Welcome to The Grandparent Effect
Grandparents are healthier, wealthier, and longer-lived than ever before. What does this mean for us all?
“Children should not bear the burden of unfinished grudges”
Grandparents and grandchildren need one another, so parents shouldn’t stand in the way, says grandmother and journalist Connie Schultz.
The very best books about the very best season
For kids, summer means freedom. These books beautifully capture that.
The best picture books about spring
I spent the final weeks of winter reading all the picture books I could find about spring. Here are my favorites. They’re simple, they’re deep, and they’re as gorgeous as the season.
“This is not the way we thought our lives would be”
Guy and Joanne Sinclair have been raising their granddaughter since their daughter got hooked on heroin.
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
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?
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.
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 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.”