The Grand Life: Wholehearted Grandparenting

Guests from Season 3 of the podcast share memories of their grandparent's work and careers--tagging along to work with them, and being shaped by their jobs and their work ethic. Emily also interviews a grandmother who's a business-executive-turned-filmmaker. EPISODE SHOW NOTES Emily's guest has produced Beyond Sixty Project, a new documentary film. Learn more here. THE STRETCH IT TAKES (essay) We have a black and white picture of my grandfather’s business prominently displayed in our...

Being a parent of teenagers is a challenge you have to experience to appreciate. When we grandparent teens, our wisdom and experience should make us better at it... but do they? Emily talks with a teen, two parents, and a grandparent to explore this dynamic, which is both familiar and new all at once. The Stretch It Takes is a guest essay from grandma and business consultant Pamela Dennis. EPISODE NOTES Grandma Judy's help and ideas on grandparent camps is at...

In this bonus episode, Emily talks with a guest from Episode 10, Ellie Slott Fisher, about the real impact the pandemic has had on our lives with our grandchildren. Emily mentions two grandparent resources you might want to visit: More Than Grand (web and Facebook), and The Long-Distance Grandparent.

The challenges of a daughter-in-law relationship are common, and they're not insurmountable--but working them out takes good communication, inclusivity, selfness, and love in action over time. (Sounds like grandparenting!) Emily's guests are two authors who have done a lot of thinking and writing about this rich but sensitive topic. Plus, Emily describes how her mother-in-law relationship started, then ended early (transcript below). EPISODE NOTES Guest Donne Davis runs an online social...

Some grandparents have taken on the grand role while still holding onto their jobs. In this episode, Emily studies this balancing act with an author-educator, two grandmas still at work, and an adult daughter. What do they all get from the combination, and what is the cost? SHOW NOTES Author and educator Madonna Harrington Meyer's book is Grandmothers at Work: Juggling Families and Jobs. Therapist Pam Siegel and co-author Leslie Zinberg wrote Grandparenting: Renew, Relive, Rejoice....

Grandparents who become caregivers for their grands are taking on a big challenge--lots of physical and mental work, and a wonderful payoff, potentially. This episode is packed with observations and insights from experts, grandparents, and moms. SHOW NOTES Fern Schumer Chapman is the co-author of Happy Harper Thursdays. Rolanda T. Pyle is the author of Grandma's Hands and has a website with ideas and observations on grandparenting. For more info and resources for grandparents, she...

What are we to do when we are blocked from having a relationship with our grands by their parents--our own children? Emily explores this hard topic with a social researcher and author, an estranged grandparent who helps others manage, and a Millennial dad who shut down his relationship with his mother for the good of his family. RESOURCES Alienated Grandparents Anonymous, a resource for support groups and related insights mentioned by Dr. Pat Hanson (2nd guest) Books mentioned or written...

What hobbies have you embraced that your grandchildren will remember, or perhaps adopted themselves? Emily presents a mash-up of recollections from her Season 3 guests who remember the hobbies of their own grandparents, Plus, a bonus interview with a super-fun grandma from Georgia and her wild-and-crazy grandkid camp. Listener advisory: there are fart noises. The Stretch It Takes (Emily's Essay): I Do Have One I recently watched a movie where a young woman was given a to-do list by her...

So many of our grandchildren have an overpowering connection to their handheld computing and gaming devices. They steal focus from the time we spend together, but it's the "new normal" in many households. How can a grandparent accept the reality without encouraging the intrusion? Emily talks with three guests who bring their personal and professional expertise to the challenge. SHOW NOTES Guest Emily Cherkin can answer your questions through her service and website, The Screen Time...

Every family handles, and teaches about, money differently. In this episode, Emily talks with three people about earning, spending, and saving, and how they grandparent (and parent) around the topic of money. SHOW NOTES Tim Sheehan's service Greenlight lets your grands manage cash using a plastic card instead of currency. If they have one, you can gift them with a funds transfer to their cards. The Stretch It Takes: Money (Emily's Essay) Money is kind of a funny concept. And let’s face...

To commemorate Grandparents Day, here's a poem from author Rolanda T. Pyle celebrating those grandparents who double as full-time caregivers...the topic of an upcoming full episode.

Dealing with the Pandemic has triggered some hard questions for Emily that are bigger than grandparenting. Older people have a tougher time recovering from COVID-19 infection, making our futures a bit more uncertain. Emily is asking: are we living lives well-lived? And what can change at this late hour? She interviews a filmmaker, a researcher, and a young parent with perspectives and riveting stories about grandparents who have lived well. RESOURCES Skye Bergman's film is Lives Well...

As we prepare to restart a regular schedule of episodes in Season 3, here's a bonus episode with an example the new diversity of voices we will bring in. This interview with a millennial parent was to have been the start of a whole new podcast, but we decided instead to include voices like hers in TGL and make it more diverse, rather than spin off another podcast. Let's all really listen to each other in our diversity and work together in making this a "grand life" for all the generations...

The better we understand ourselves, the better we can relate to our children—and the better our relationships with our grandchildren. Emily talks with author and counselor Beth Booram about the Enneagram, a great tool for self-knowledge, and the challenges of transitioning from parent to grand. We also hear from Caitlin, a young mom who is working a parallel transition with her kids’ grandparents (that is, her own mom and dad). We start the episode with another TGL production meeting, and...

During this Covid-19 pandemic, grandparenting continues to evolve. Who knows? We might even be called upon to teach our grands when school resumes. Grandparenting is constantly evolving from three generations ago when we, as grandparents, were grandchildren. Where we live, where our grands live, who travels, how often--the expectations are not the same. What is the one factor that had changed grandparenting the most? Explore this with Emily Morgan and her friend Mickey, whose pipe-smoking...

What words do you want your grands to remember you by? Emily's guests from Season Two share some wise and practical sayings their grandparents passed down to them. In The Stretch It Takes, she considers the weight of words and the power of actions--and see her essay reproduced below. We wrap with a production meeting on what’s coming in Season Three, and Emily's brand new podcast is pre-announced. THE STRETCH IT TAKES: Weight and Power Have you seen those ads on Facebook lately for...

As lifespans increase and money gets tight, today's grandparents are caught in a "club sandwich"--layers of caregiving that go one generation back and two forwards. If you take care of your parents, your children, and you grands, then you're part of The Club Sandwich Generation. Emily and her guests talk about challenges and anxieties, impact on the extended family, and how to take care of yourself. SHOW NOTES Larry Lannan (in this episode with his wife Jane) has produced a podcast for...

When your grands are out of reach, whether by distance or quarantine, the ache can be a deep one. Emily explores the frustrations over this kind of separation, and she uncovers many helpful ideas to close that distance between you and your long-distance grands. SHOW NOTES Dr. Kerry Byrne researches the fields of aging, care, and connection. Her ideas form the web site and blog titled thelongdistancegrandparent.com. Kerry recommends Generations United, which provides thought leadership...

Grandchildren with disabilities bring about differences in relationships, family dynamics, and grandparenting. Emily talks with two grandmothers, a doctor, and an author about the differences and similarities we share with our grands with specific medical needs and physical challenges. SHOW NOTES Thanks to commercial artist Kimberly Renee for our cover art of a family loving thorough disability. She has an Etsy shop and a Facebook page. Dr. Elizabeth Wheeler's book, Handiland: The...

Grandkids and grandpets--what could go wrong? It seems to depend on humanity. Some animals get treated like people. Some people don't like animals. Other people prioritize their animals over their relatives. There can be many kinds of conflict, and most are avoidable through just a few guiding principles. Emily talks with a grandmother who loves animals, a mom whose pet is not so cool about the grandpets who visit, and an animal behaviorist with observations and advice. In The Stretch It...