Blogs

One of the greatest of experiences in life is becoming a grandparent, even if it comes through unconventional means. Grandparents whose children adopt have a wonderful chance to welcome a brand new person into their family. As with all major life changes, adoption is both a wonderful and challenging experience, filled with excitement, adjustment and joy. This is no less true for the grandparents, as they watch their own beloved children dealing with all the emotions that come with adopting a child. Here are some tips to consider if you are becoming a grandparent through adoption: Be a partner in […]

Grandparents who find themselves having custody of their grandchildren, or just spending a great deal of time with them during visitation, may wonder about discipline techniques. Children who are used to “time-outs” may stump grandparents raised many years ago in entirely different circumstances. Time-outs can effectively stop behaviors that are especially hard to discipline. It can also serve as disciplinary action for a particularly aggressive or impulsive grandkid! These discipline problems can include everything from a temper tantrum to cursing to  name-calling to spitting to acting up and  to biting. If your grandchild is very angry or actually having a […]

Wisdom is sometimes just listening. It is sometimes teaching, learning, supporting, sharing and/or empathizing.  Wisdom is a grandparents gift to their grandchildren. Wisdom is worth sharing with those we love. God knows it is one of our grandparents rights since we have worked so hard for it. It would be scary for those of us that are grandparents to put a price on the wisdom we have gained through the years. The blood, sweat and tears that has been invested in raising and nurturing our families  is commensurate with the wisdom we have garnered along the way. Oh, the good […]

It all starts when that little bundle of joy wraps his or her tiny hand around Grandpa’s finger. Now they have you……forever. Don’t fight it, the struggle is useless, you are hooked. The journey has begun. This is to be a journey of discovery for the new grandparents and for the repeat grandparents, still a thrill all the same. After 6 grandchildren in the past 20 years I can attest that each time is breathtaking, awesome and wonderful. Aren’t you glad to hear the good news? Well, as you may have guessed there is a challenge in this process as […]

For many reasons there is a groundswell of interest around grandparents rights versus parents rights. The Supreme Court of the United States of America has chimed in about Parents rights and 45 states have passed legislation having to do with Grandparents rights. There are 77,400,000 web sites dealing with parents rights and 2,130,00 about Grandparents rights. In short, there is as lot of interest when it comes to these rights and most have to do with staking out their own position. The good news is that in most families this is exactly the way things play out, even though the […]

It is official, the baby-boomer generation has entered into the grandparents right of passage. Since the definition of a baby boomer is anyone born between 1946 and 1964 and the average age for a new grandparent is 48 that places a lot of those folks into what is being called the Grand-Boomers. I kind of like that term even though I am too old to qualify. This classification was significant enough that AARP did a breakout study of this age group in it’s 2002 “Grandparent Study Report”. What they found is that the Grand-Boomers are a little bit different than […]

“The belief that youth is the happiest time of life is founded on a fallacy.  The happiest person is the person who thinks the most interesting thoughts, and we grow happier as we grow older.”           WILLIAM LYON PHELPS I just turned 65 last week and it has provided me with a reason to reflect.  One of the neat things about grandparents is that we have an easy time finding Joy in our grandkids and happiness in watching our kids raise them.  If you are someone who has trouble seeing the Joy that is created and experienced by  these incredible, naturally […]

It all starts when that little bundle of joy wraps his or her tiny hand around Grandpa’s finger. Now they have you……forever. Don’t fight it, the struggle is useless, you are hooked. The journey has begun. This is to be a journey of discovery for the new grandparents and for the repeat grandparents, still a thrill all the same. After 6 grandchildren in the past 20 years I can attest that each time is breathtaking, awesome and wonderful. Aren’t you glad to hear the good news? Well, as you may have guessed there is a challenge in this process as […]

THE EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY SAYS A LOT ABOUT GRANDPARENTS Every week or so I take the trip from Charlotte, NC to Asheville, NC to work on our internet businesses with my son, Chuck. Last week I stayed overnight so my 4 year old granddaughter, Ceili and I could take her Dad to breakfast for his birthday. I was sipping coffee in their dinning room when this beautiful sleepy angel came around the corner and curled up on my lap with Mr. Froggy in tow. Ain’t life wonderful? If I concluded this thought right here you would have the perfect picture of […]

  GRANDPAERNTS RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES The contribution of Caring Grandparents cannot be over stated.  It is our duty, whether you are a new grandparent or like myself on the verge of great grandparenthood, to raise Loving and Lovable children and help them to do the same. (Like the commercial says, “Wash, Rinse, Repeat”).  I am convinced that this process passed down through the generations  will have  a much grearer effect on this world than all the goverment programs combined.  The source of this power can be repeated and grown with each new grandchild.  As the picture above shows, you can’t […]