grandchildren

January 21, 2018

GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS ARE MAKING PROGRESS

GRANDPARENTS STANDING IN A COURT OF LAW   The other day I ran across and article on my Grandparents Rights alert on Google. It was an article from 1983 in the New York Times. The outlook for Grandparents in 1983 was certainly bleak. A sign of real and significant progress since then is that there was a ruling to put the 1982 Michigan Grandparents visitation law back on the books in 2004. This cleared the way for Grandparents once again […]
January 12, 2018

WHEN CARING ISN’T ENOUGH

LAST RESORT   In the present landscape of Grandparents Rights we are limited to just a few tools. Most of you reading this have already exhausted the common sense approach of appealing to reason. Whatever the reason for the breakdown in the relationship it is still important that we use all the tools at our disposal. A good first step is to gather all evidence of your ongoing and meaningful relationship with your Grandchild. This should include pictures, letters, card, […]
January 2, 2018

THE POWER DYNAMIC ABOUT GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS.

  There would be little need for any Grandparents Rights legislation, family court and/or mediation if it wasn’t for all of the power dynamics, manipulation and or perceived slights that seem to permeate families. By the time things get to the point of a “Rights struggle” there has been a lot of water under the bridge. I hear a lot of stories that begin in the Labor and Delivery room at the hospital. Many more come of marriage breakups, etc. […]
August 1, 2017

Grandparents rights are mostly self made.

There are things that we can do to exercise our grandparents rights when there are storms of family strife all around us. One evolution in the area of grandparents rights is that in most states Grandparents have a much easier time of showing standing in the courts. This may seem like a shallow victory but it is none the less a hard fought one. I can’t even fathom the frustration of Grandparents in the past that after being there for […]
April 9, 2017

SHARING YOUR WISDOM

  Having survived all these years gives us license to share what we have learned. I find that all I have to do is apply the Dale Carnegie principle of speaking in terms of other peoples interest and they will eat it up. I had just such an occurrence this morning. Each week when I speak to the grandkids I ask what fun stuff they are doing in school. My 11 year old bonus granddaughter went on a school field […]
March 21, 2017

TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN’ AND PRETTY FAST!

Even the rate of change is changing. I am almost finished reading “Thanks for being late” by Thomas Friedman. He wrote “The world is flat” back in 2005. It spoke to the world becoming one market, etc. He was spot on. In this new book he takes on the rate of change with technology today. As much as I dislike it, the future is NOW. It would be fair for you to ask what this has to do with Grandparents, […]
March 11, 2017

I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE DISPARITY OF GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS STATE TO STATE

HAPPY TIME!   A couple of years ago I did several posts on Senator John East’s attempt to write Grandparents Rights into a federal law to help unify and clarify what is now a very scattered and lacking patchwork of State laws. This committee process was long and detailed which just pointed out the fact that this is, admittedly, a difficult subject. While it may be difficult it is no less important. I am hard pressed to find anything more […]
March 8, 2017

CAN YOU GET YOUR NOSE UNDER THE TENT?

THE WAY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE   Being estranged from a Grandchild is an arrow to the heart. We will do anything to re-establish that connection. From the extreme of legally asserting our Grandparents Rights if possible, to, let’s face it, BEGGING. No matter where you are on this continuum it is important that you retreat to your Caring Grandparent place and make a strategic plan before you do anything. Without such a plan we are often tempted to […]
March 5, 2017

TIPS ON COMMUNICATING WITH GRANDCHILDREN

  When we have the ear of our grandchildren we should have considered how to best communicate with them. This is one area where intention is not enough. The greatest thing humans have to offer another person is our time and attention. This is especially true of these little humans we call grandkids. It will serve us well to consider several things first. Age Appropriateness; Many things I have read divide the ages as follows; 0-5 years, 5-10 years, 11-17 […]