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Convince Your Children You're Ready to Babysit
New grandparents want nothing more than to help take care of their grandchildren. So why are so many parents reluctant to hand the kids off?
When your children were little, you were probably happy to leave them with your parents. You trusted your parents' knowledge and experience, and saw them as reliable sources o ... read more
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The Four-Generation Family
Many grandparents are torn between wanting to spend time with grandchildren and needing to care for their own parents
On December 12, 2007, James and Nancy Wilcox of Lyman, Me., welcomed their first grandchild, Connor, into the world. A month later, they welcomed James's parents into their h ... read more
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Celebrating "Mean Moms"
Is your daughter or daughter-in-law tough on your grandchildren? These grandparents say you should be proud.
Nobody wants to be thought of as mean. Or so you'd think. But there's actually a movement of mothers across the country who are embracing the word. They are "mean moms," and t ... read more
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How to Get Along With Your Daughter-in-Law
If you want to get closer to your grandchildren, start by improving your relationship with your daughter-in-law
"Wear beige and keep your mouth shut."
This is what Carolyn Keleman, a grandmother of seven from Columbia, Md., says she's learned in her ten years as mother-in-law to two dau ... read more
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Saying Good-bye to the Family Home
Downsizing from your current home may be a smart decision. But it could also stress out your grandchildren. How can you explain it to them?
Linda Flynn always imagined living in "a big grandma house," where grandchildren would spend happy weeks visiting her. "We’d look through boxes together, and I'd tell t ... read more
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Are Your Children's Rules Silly?
As grandparents, we often think that some rules our children set for their children are ridiculous
My assignment was to report on the silliest rules parents make for their children, and decide whether grandparents should follow those rules when they are with the kids. After ... read more
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Beyond Time-Out
Are your grandchildren running wild? The author of a new book on raising happier children suggests the problem may be that the kids have too much power.
In the last few years, I've heard a rising cry of distress from parents across the country: Their children’s fears, tears, demands, and entitlements are derailing their ... read more
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Should Your Kids Blog About Your Grandchildren?
When your grandchildren become the focus of their parents' blogs, the results can be adorable, or uncomfortable
One of the hallmarks of the internet age is self-revelation or, as critics call it: over-sharing. People love to talk about themselves, and issues once limited to whispered co ... read more
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How Well Do Your Grandchildren Know You?
A recent survey found that many adults don't know much about their grandparents. Will your grandchildren be different?
What should your grandchildren know about you?
Would you like them to know you were a volunteer firefighter, or that you once sang in a rock band? Do you want them to know tha ... read more
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Don't Babysit Without This Emergency Info
If you're babysitting for a grandchild, this must-have information could save his or her life.
When you babysit for your grandchildren, whether it's the first time or the hundredth time, there are some things you expect to be provided, such as food for the kids' dinner; ... read more
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How to Help New Parents Survive the First Year
When a new baby arrives, new parents' lives become a whirlwind. A helpful grandparent can be the calm at the middle of the storm.
No matter how well a couple thinks they have prepared, a new baby turns their whole house upside-down, not just for a week, but for months. As the new arrival upends his or he ... read more
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7 Ways to Teach Patriotism to Your Grandchildren
The Fourth of July is a great time to help children learn about our country's ideals and symbols. These ideas will help get you started.
Grandchildren love the Fourth of July. There are hot dogs, beach parties, baseball games, and at the end of the day, fireworks. But for young children, there are also question ... read more
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Driving for Donors
Fueled by love for their grandson, one couple embarks on an extraordinary road trip to recruit bone-marrow donors.
They’ve already logged more than 6,000 miles in their 31-foot "donormobile." They've hit 13 cities since April. And it’s clear that Gordon and Sharon Small are wil ... read more
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10 Things You Can Pay Grandchildren to Do
Is there a job that needs doing in your house? Instead of looking in the Yellow Pages, hire a grandchild.
It’s no secret that grandparents like to give gifts. You regularly send your grandchildren birthday checks, slip cash into their eager hands as you hug them good-bye af ... read more
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Minding Their Manners
Grandparents play a vital role in modeling good etiquette
The grandparent, the brother, the aunt, or the perfect stranger ... at one time or another, everyone has witnessed the phenomenon that is a misbehaving child. Screaming at the ... read more
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When Your Present Flops
You spend a lot of time choosing just the right presents for your grandchildren. So what do you do when the kids hate them?
In one of our frequent phone conversations, my daughter told me that my toddler grandson loved dinosaurs and bubbles. So when I saw a dinosaur bubble-blower, I gleefully bough ... read more
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How to "Be There" for a New Mom
Your grandchild has been born! While everyone else is looking at the new arrival, here's what you can do to support the new mom.
When you get that long-awaited call that your new grandchild has arrived, your instinct may be to grab the adorable newborn outfit you bought and wrapped so carefully and race ... read more
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Have You Bonded With Your Grandchild?
Feeling connected to a new child doesn't always happen instantly, but with time, you'll get there.
You're never quite prepared for the feelings that your first grandchild's birth inspires. Even an experienced pediatric nurse like Mary Schoenberg, 57, of Basking Ridge, N.J., ... read more
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Celebrating At-Home Dads
The ranks of at-home dads are growing, and new research says that's great for kids.
This Father’s Day, grandparents nationwide will pause to honor the dads in their grandchildren's lives, with an array of ties, robes, fishing lures, and colognes. For gr ... read more
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Are You Ready for Your Grandchild's Summer Visit?
It's the season for sleepovers. Are you — and your home — prepared?
Preparing your home, and yourself, for a summer visit from the grandchildren can seem as complicated — and about as much fun — as preparing for a tax audit. But a ... read more
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