The year in grandparents
The best stories from my site and beyond in 2019.
“Anne-Christine can rest easy now”
A murderer admits to his crime, but his victim’s mother—who is seeking custody of her grandson—fights on.
The boarding school from hell
When my grandparents went abroad in the fall of 1958, they found two very different Swiss boarding schools for their kids.
I’ve been very careful about not giving unsolicited advice to my kids about their children, because I think everybody has to make their own mistakes. My favorite thing to tell my children is, ‘Every day I did the best I could, and some days it was better than other days, but it was always the best I could do that day.’
Arlene, grandmother of four, New York
Are you a typical American grandparent?
There’s a new study out about grandparents. Some of its findings surprised me.
More myths about grandparents that it’s time to trash
Many stereotypes about grandparents are wrong.
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.
Why does Trump want to keep children and their grandparents apart?
Many immigrant parents seek to bring their own parents here to help with childcare while they toil in grueling jobs, two sociologists recently wrote in The New York Times. President Trump wants to stop them.
“It’s been like dying and going to heaven”
Earlier this year, I published a long story about a grandmother in Houston, Stephanie Johnson, who had lost access to her grandson after her daughter was murdered and who was fighting in court to be reunited with him. Here’s an update on Stephanie’s plight.
“We are grannies on a mission”
Grandparents from all over the country are road-tripping to a Texas border city this weekend to protest the Trump administration’s treatment of migrant children and their families.
John Mellencamp was a grandma’s boy
“Buddy, don’t forget,” Laura Mellencamp told her grandson daily. “You’re the handsomest, luckiest, most talented boy in the world.”
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.
Do maternal grandparents have it better?
Kids are often closer to their maternal grandparents than to their paternal ones, research suggests, perhaps because mothers tend to maintain closer ties with their own parents than fathers do.
“Do anything to stop this”
Thanks to everyone who read and commented on my in-depth story about a grandmother in Houston, Stephanie Johnson, who lost her daughter to domestic violence and is now fighting for the right to see her grandson. Here’s one comment I think everyone should see.
How common is domestic violence?
About 28 million women in the United States have experienced “severe” physical violence at the hands of a partner, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
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.
Does modern parenting ruin kids?
Because of how their parents are raising them, kids will grow up to be more entitled, less disciplined, and less independent than their elders, an overwhelming majority of Australian grandparents believes.