The year in grandparents
The best stories from my site and beyond in 2019.
The grandmas who snorkel with snakes
Some days, they take care of their grandchildren. Other days, they prowl the bottom of the sea in search of venomous snakes.
“Do your best every day!”
The grandmas and grandpas at Garden View Assisted Living in Carroll, Iowa have lots of back-to-school advice for kids. Recently, they posted it on Facebook.
He’s taking his 89-year-old grandma to each and every national park
Joy Ryan had never seen the ocean or climbed a mountain. Then her grandson took her on the road.
More myths about grandparents that it’s time to trash
Many stereotypes about grandparents are wrong.
“I was worried about my grandkids”
Marian Shields Robinson didn’t want to move to Washington, D.C. when her daughter, Michelle Obama, became First Lady in 2009. But her grandchildren, Sasha and Malia, were only seven and ten, and Marian was worried about them, she said in a recent interview with Gayle King of CBS This Morning.
A loving grandpa in a hateful world
Maurice Stallard was murdered in Kentucky last week while shopping with his grandson at Kroger’s. The alleged killer, who is white, likely targeted him because he was black.
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.
In Cleveland, a retirement home is a home for young artists, too
“When I tell people I live in a retirement community, I get a lot of mixed reactions,” says 26-year-old violinist Tiffany Tieu. “Some people don’t believe me.”
A grandmother and her Girl Scouts
All the Girl Scouts troops in her California town were full, so Kathy Richardson started a new one for her granddaughter and her friends.
What if every classroom had a grandparent?
Kids need love. Grandparents are good at giving it. That’s why an army of them is being recruited to serve in the public schools of Syracuse, New York, where too many students have been getting suspended and too few have been graduating.
It’s never too late to join the Peace Corps
Alice Carter, 87, a grandmother from Boston, is halfway through a two-year stint with the Peace Corps in Rabat, Morocco, where she’s volunteering at a youth center.
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.
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.
Is grandparenting good for you?
Babysitting for grandkids may boost your wellbeing, but if you’re pressured into providing care, you may suffer.
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?