Dear Readers, A few months ago, as I was reading Dominique Browning’s article, “I’m Too Old for This,” I found myself smiling vigorously in agreement. Although there are downsides to aging, she goes on to say: “ . . . there is also something profoundly liberating about aging: an attitude, one that comes hard won. […]
Author: Dr. Karen Rancourt
Karen L. Rancourt, Ph.D., has over 50 years of varied experience. She began her career an elementary school teacher, went on to become a college professor, management consultant to Fortune 100 companies, career coach, and author of six books and a dozens of articles. Dr. Rancourt has helped thousands of parents, professionals and grandparents make important relationship decisions.
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: What Is Sexting All About?
It seems like I am reading a lot lately about teens and sexting. As a parent or a grandparent, I cannot imagine dealing with this. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. I am interested in what you have to say about it. You’re right that sexting became a much-publicized topic, especially after a sexting […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: The Gift of a Gap Year
Dear readers, This is an unabridged column I wrote for GRAND Magazine. An administrator at an elite college with 17 years experience has observed a decline in what she calls college readiness: “Our students are academically talented, but over the years I have found them to be less and less emotionally and behaviorally prepared for […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Aunt Feels Pulled Into A Family Problem
I am a single aunt with no kids, but I have been party to conflict and tension between my brother and my mother. My mother helps my brother and his family quite often with babysitting, overnights, transportation, and caring for his kids when my brother and his wife are out of town. My mother attends […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Preserving Family History and Memories
At 93 years old, Aunt Dora was the last of her seven siblings. Spry and mentally alert, she acted as “Communications Central” for her grown seven nieces and nephews, with each calling on a different day a week to check in with her. As each person called Dora on his/her assigned day, she proved to […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: The Gogos of Swaziland
Dear readers, As we in the United States celebrate National Grandparents Day on Sunday, September 13, I thought this would be an appropriate time for my friend, Hannah Laufer-Rottman, to talk about the important role the grandmothers, known as the Gogos, are playing in Swaziland, a country in Africa. (Gogo is an honorific title that is […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Aunt Has Issues with Her Niece
I live in a multi-generational home with my mother, her husband, and my sister and her two daughters, ages two and nine. The problem I need help with is in regards to my nine-year-old niece, Emmy. Some background: My sister is 38 and I am 36. She is a good provider and we do get […]
Grandmother Angry about Gaining Two More Grandchildren
My son, who has custody of his two children (a girl and a boy), is going to marry a woman with two girls of her own. The four children are all between the ages of 9 and 12. My husband and I have been told that we must treat these two girls the same as […]