​Author Richard Eyre give us a handbook for every grandfather.

Looking for books for a new grandmother to help her embrace her new role? There are several great choices. Looking for books for a new grandfather? Not so easy! So far, I’ve only found one: Being a Proactive Grandfather by Richard Eyre.

Luckily, it’s all any grandfather really needs. Eyre, as a grandfather to roughly 30 grandchildren, has enough experience to know what works. He shares his creative and practical ideas in a way that makes you wish you could get started right away. While some of his methods will be difficult for long-distance grandfathers or those who are still actively working, the concepts behind them will inspire every grandfather who is committed to a real relationship with their grandchildren.

Eyre sums it up here:
"Passive grandfathering—just paying a little attention once in a while or trying to lend a bit of financial support as needed—is not much fun. The thing that often holds us back from greater involvement with our grandkids is that, in some ways, they lie a bit outside our comfort zones. We don’t know exactly what they need or how to go about Proactive Grandfathering."

Being a Proactive Grandfather is an excellent guide for those grandfathers who don’t know how to get outside their comfort zone, or for those who want more ideas to help shape their role as Grandpa. This one is worth buying for every grandfather!

If you pick up Camp Grandma expecting a book to help you plan a week of fun activities for your grandchildren, you may find it lacking. If you pick it up looking for ways to deepen your relationship with your grandchildren, pass along your gifts and values, or help them become successful adults, you won’t be disappointed.

Marianne Waggoner Day approaches time with her grandchildren as a retired corporate executive. The lessons she takes from her time in the business world are among the values she wants to pass along to her four grandchildren. She established Camp Grandma to “establish a structure where my four grandkids could come together and through shared experiences truly learn about each other and maybe more about themselves.”

She compares Camp Grandma to a corporate retreat for kids, where they learn about setting agendas and goals, giving presentations, and teamwork. And while she outlines the activities she does with her grandkids, she emphasizes that the book is not meant to be a blueprint for others. Instead, she hopes readers will find the inspiration to pass our own talents to our grandchildren.

This book will be most useful for grandparents who are lucky enough to care for their grandchildren on a regular basis, or who can carve out dedicated time with them during the summer. However, the ideas are valuable for all grandparents, and I recommend you get a copy today!

Have you read Camp Grandma? What did you think?

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"[Grandmother and I] approached every day together as an adventure, filled with the simple joys and discoveries that are fresh and new to a child and that can also make a grandmother feel fresh and new again.” Sharon Lovejoy, Camp Granny
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If you want to impart a sense of wonder in your grandchildren, this book is a must. Building on the legacy of her own grandmother, Lovejoy provides simple, inexpensive ideas for tapping into your grandchild’s curiosity and creativity. From setting up your home before your grandchildren come to visit to making bean soup into a lesson in growing, she will guide you through adventures that you’ll enjoy as much as your grandchildren will. The book itself is beautiful and well-written. Put Camp Granny on your wish list, or treat yourself to it today. Just make sure you read it before your grandchildren’s next visit!

​When Lesley Stahl became a grandmother, she was stunned by the way it affected her emotionally. Ever the reporter, she set about to find out whether her experience was the norm. Becoming Grandma is the engaging, informative result of her research. As she shares stories of her transformation into Grandma, she explores the ways grandparents can play an important role in their grandchildren’s lives. Stahl offers insight into the complexities of a being a grandparent in today’s world, where a child may have four sets of grandparents and parents are inundated with parenting advice from the internet. This well-researched book is well worth reading--buy a copy and lend it out to your grandmother friends. 

​Have you read this book? What did you think?

As an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Every penny helps support this site and allows me to visit my grandchildren, so thank you for your support!

Do you remember playing outside as a child? I spent hours upon hours playing in the woods: making elaborate houses with fallen branches, shaping dishes out of the clay we found in the soil, decorating with flowers and leaves. I remember climbing trees so high I got dizzy and had to be coached back down. There were games of hide and seek in the tall grass of an empty lot across the street, and in the winter, elaborate snow forts and all-neighborhood snowball fights.

Children need nature. And not just seeing it, but experiencing it: the feel of grass under their feet, the sound of the birds in the woods, the smell of wet dirt. Studies have shown that children who play regularly in natural environments exhibit more advanced motor fitness, including coordination, balance and agility, and they are sick less often*. But for too many children, time playing in nature is a rare treat.

So how can we, as grandparents, help?

Make your yard a place for exploration.

Provide them with natural elements for creative play: sticks and stones and leaves and dirt and water. Keep a place for them to dig for worms. Let them make forts in your bushes and move the rocks in your border. Let them climb your trees and hang from the branches. Let them lie on the grass and watch the bugs. Let them go barefoot and let them get dirty.

It can be that easy. But if you want more ideas for making your backyard into a child-friendly play space, I highly recommend Molly Dannenmaier’s book, A Child’s Garden. She provides dozens of ideas and inspiration for creating natural play areas that fit into adult gardens.

For more about the crucial role nature plays for all of us, read The Nature Fix by Florence Williams.

No backyard? No problem. I’ll share ideas for connecting children to nature in my next post.

*Grahn, et al. 1997, Fjortoft & Sageie 2001

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The Secrets to Making a Difference While Having the Time of Your Life

​Linda Eyre has a large family: nine children and 31 grandchildren (as of the writing of the book in 2018). Her previous books on motherhood gained her loyal followers across the globe, and it is those fans who will probably enjoy this book most.

Eyre shares the steps she and her husband have taken to strengthen the bonds with their large and far-flung brood, but many of them are very specific to a large, religious, financially advantaged family. Much of the book is a walk through her own stories and relationships.

While there are some useful ideas and inspiring stories buried within, I found myself skimming through the personal parts to get to the promised secrets. Ultimately, I didn’t find much advice that hadn’t been covered more succinctly in other books, such as Jane Isay’s Unconditional Love.

​Eyre ends the book with a chapter of recipes to feed a crowd. It’s a nice touch, but for those of us not cooking for 20+ people, not very valuable. If your library has a copy of Grandmothering, it’s worth taking a look to see if you think it will be useful for you.  

This site contains affiliate links to products I have personally chosen to share. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Every penny helps support this site and allows me to visit my grandchildren, so thank you for your support!

A Guide to Navigating the Joys and Challenges of Being A Grandparent Today

Are you looking for help understanding the new dimensions to your family that being a grandparent creates? Whether you have a strong and wonderful relationship with your child and their spouse or not, Unconditional Love provides solid advice for forming the bond you wish to form with your grandchildren. Isay's acknowledgement of the conflicts, problems and politics of family life provides a framework for creating a healthy relationship with your grandchildren and their parents. Through interviews, research and her own experience, Isay provides plenty of food for thought for anyone who wants to make the most of being a grandparent. Well worth buying this one, as it will be a useful reference in the years to come.

This site contains affiliate links to products I have personally chosen to share. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Every penny helps support this site and allows me to visit my grandchildren, so thank you for your support!

This site contains affiliate links to products I have personally chosen to share. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. Every penny helps support this site and allows me to visit my grandchildren, so thank you for your support!