Grandfamilies: Want Warmer Relationships? Stop Doing These Six Things

Don’t Go Off Mad. When you are nurturing relationships with adult children (yours, steps, in-laws, or exes), grandchildren, and all the other characters who play a role on your family’s stage, it’s a good idea to think about your habits. A thoughtful review may reveal a few statements better left unsaid, actions better left undone. […]


Grandfamilies: Three Ways to Remain Close When You’re Far

Dinosaur Stories with Ayden and Cadence. September 2008. As I write this week, I am thinking of one friend and heart-sister who is in the midst of moving far from one family of grandchildren, yet close to another. These changes claw at our grandparents’ hearts. Yet when it comes to grandparenting across the miles, creativity […]


Grandfamilies: Hints for Hosting a Houseful

Cadence, Daphne, and Sawyer, “Playing” the Piano. April 2014. Last week we looked into being good guests when visiting the kids and grandkids. A friend suggested I write about hosting the kids and grandkids, which seemed like a splendid idea to me.  Some ideas: Figure out where they’ll stay. If your son tells you that he […]


Grandfamilies: Help, Don’t Harp–How to Make Your Visit a Win

Sawyer, Rob, Cadence, Daphne, Elaine, Me, Rich. Charleston. September 4, 2016. At the beginning of this month, we were privileged to be the houseguests of daughter Elaine and her husband, Rob. I cherish this privilege because I know that having houseguests for ten days is no small thing, no matter how much love flows between […]


Grandfamilies: On Trust

Cadence and His Rob-Daddy. July 2011. Las Vegas. Picture your family relationships like a stack of blocks. And we’re not talking about the orderly stacking that results in pyramids or little models of the White House. Oh, no. This stack is haphazard. You didn’t select your children’s personalities, did you? If we could, then maybe we […]