Things to Do Now That You're ... a Grandparent

Book excerpt: Things to do now that you're...a Grandparent provides the newly appointed grandparent with 600 ingenious, fun and creative ideas to explore. For most of us, news of a grandchild's impending arrival will send us into a dizzying array of emotions. Like other major events in our lives, no single emotion fits the bill. How could it? The birth of a grandchild signals a new stage of your life - a new beginning. There are so many different ways to be involved in our grandchildren's lives - and it is up to us to choose the ones we are most comfortable with. Grandparents today are very different from grandparents of only a generation ago: we are generally healthier, busier and more likely to still be working when our first grandchild arrives. As a result, our role as grandparent can vary greatly - from being the on-hand care giver while parents go to work; or the long distance grand who explores grand parenting via emails, letters, photographs and presents; or you may be somewhere in between - providing regular supportive and fun contact with your grandchildren. In whatever capacity, there are great joys to be had rediscovering the passage of childhood for the third time and relearning the skills of parenting, once removed.