About 25 years ago our son, Randy, bought an assisted living residence. Over the years he has built this business into a successful chain of residences worth millions. It was always assumed his two sons (our grandsons) would join the family business. Eric, now 30, joined the company five years ago after graduating from college […]
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 Really Going On In That Parent-Grandparent Conflict?
Dr. Gramma Karen is on vacation; she will return on August 4. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoy an interview New York Family conducted with her, reprinted here with permission. What Is Really Going On In That Parent-Grandparent Conflict? By Chloe Rehfield Grandparent guru Dr. Karen Rancourt shares advice for achieving peace and harmony in […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Grandparents Want To Be Only with Their Well-Behaved Grandchild
I am wondering what you have to say about the following situation I was reading about. A mother describes her two children – a daughter, 7, who is polite, well mannered, easy to be around, and her 4-year-old son, who is sweet, but can be a bit of a handful with temper tantrums and defiant […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Readers’ Comments, “Young Granddaughter Dresses Sexy”
I received several comments about my column “Young Granddaughter Dresses Sexy”. The mother of a 13-year-old girl comments that “I think an important point is that different clothing are for different environments – hanging out with girlfriends in short shorts at a sleep over is different than wearing a push up bra that powers up […]
Granddaughter Wants to Share Bedroom with Her Boyfriend
Our 19-year-old granddaughter Mindy is a college sophomore. She contacted my husband and me to ask if she could stay with us for a weekend while she attends a wedding in our city in a few months. We adore Mindy, and we’ve always had a wonderful relationship with her. We would love to have her […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Step-Grandmother Discusses Her Favoritism
Dear Readers, In earlier columns I have addressed the topic of grandparent favoritism. In one of my columns a young mother writes about her concern that her children will be damaged by their grandmother’s favoritism, and in a second column, a grandmother worries about the favoritism the other grandmothers shows toward certain of the grandchildren […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Grandparents and Their Grown Children’s Divorce
Dear readers, This is an unabridged column I wrote for GRAND Magazine. With a 40 percent divorce rate in this country, many grandparents will witness the divorce of their grown children. Having been witness to signs that their grown child’s marriage was in trouble, some grandparents will not be surprised at the news of the […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Grandchildren Teaching Grandparents
This is an unabridged version of a column I wrote for GRAND Magazine. I hope you enjoy it! After watching her eight-year-old grandson, Mickey, stand-up paddle boarding (SUP), Grandma Lee commented that it sure looked like a fun thing to do. Mickey said, “Grandma Lee, I can teach you how to SUP.” And he did. […]