We get along very well with our granddaughters and our son. It’s our DIL who is cold as ice. We are just typical people who want to see our granddaughters over Skype, and learn what they are doing in school. We want to spend holidays and vacation time with them as often as possible, too. We don’t know what to do with the mother.
Category: Grandparents
Welcome grandparents and parents! We know how important grandparent relationships are, so here you’ll find articles, videos and events on activities grandparents can do with their grandchildren, ways to positively foster these relationships, better communication and appreciation between parents and grandparents (and vice versa!) and more!
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: “13 Reasons Why”: To Watch, or Not To Watch
Note: This is an unabridged version of a column I wrote for GRAND Magazine. As a parent or grandparent, you cannot escape making the to-watch or not-to-watch decision about 13 Reasons Why, the Netflix 13-hour series that depicts Hannah Baker, a high school student and the show’s central character, who dies by suicide. Hannah leaves […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Ongoing Issues With the In-Laws
I wrote to you last year about favoritism occurring in my husband’s family – his parents showing a preference for their other grandchildren over ours. We took your advice and spoke to his parents about a few of the issues we noticed. They were very appreciative for the information and accepted it, but things still […]
Readers’ Comments: Impacts of the Election on Family Relationships
Many readers responded to my column, Impacts of the Election on Family Relationships. Although I focused primarily on family relationships, many readers report that the presidential election affects non-familial relationships as well. For example, one reader writes: “Someone posted this comment on your column [referenced above]: ‘Just experienced a “it’s better if we don’t talk” […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Impacts of the Election on Family Relationships
This is an unabridged version of my column that will be published in the March/April issue of GRAND Magazine. Prior to the presidential election I wrote two columns on how the presidential campaign was impacting family relationships: (1) “Grandparents’ Political Rants Are Upsetting;” (2) “Readers’ Responses to Grandparents’ Political Rants.” Post-election, many readers who did […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Ongoing Issues With the In-Laws
I wrote to you last year about favoritism occurring in my husband’s family – his parents showing a preference for their other grandchildren over our two boys. We took your advice and spoke to his parents about a few of the issues we noticed. They were very appreciative for the information and accepted it, but […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: My Daughter-in-Law Insults Me by Cleaning My House
I’ve never had a particularly warm relationship with my daughter-in-law Bernice. She’s a bit of a cold fish. For example, when her mother died a few months ago, I never saw her shed a tear. Whenever I tried to talk with her about her mother’s illness and then her death, she made it clear she […]
Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: Helping the Gogos (Grandmothers) of Swaziland
Dear readers, In my September 13, 2015 column, my guest columnist was Hannah Laufer-Rottman, founder of Palms for Life, an organization dedicated to eradicating worldwide hunger and poverty. In that column Hannah talked about the important role the grandmothers, known as the Gogos, are playing in Swaziland, a country in Africa. (Gogo is an honorific […]