​Do you think your children are better parents than you were? Odds are, you don’t. According to a 2018 study by AARP, a startling three in four grandparents disagree with the statement, “In general, parenting today is better than it was.” They believe that discipline is worse than it used to be, and that parents today are both too lax and too overprotective.

Luckily, most grandparents respect boundaries and hold their tongue even when they disagree.

​Most, but far from all. Another recent study, this time of parents, shows that disagreements about parenting choices are common.
​
In an August 2020 Mott Poll Report, 43% of parents report asking a grandparent to change their behavior to be consistent with the parents’ choices and rules. Although the Mott Poll Report doesn’t give specific examples of the conflicts, some of the disagreements parents have shared with me include:

“She’d never use the clothing or skincare products or diapers/wipes that we sent with her, and my daughter would get rashes.”