Tag Archives: separation

“Too Young” Grandma Gets Shafted at Toy Store

Exactly how young is too young to be a grandparent? The question was raised earlier this month when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin announced that at 44 years young she would soon be a grandma to her teenage daughter Bristol’s child. Turns out Palin has something in common with a Phoenix woman, who at age 49 made headlines when she was considered “too young” to be a grandparent by Toys R Us. The popular retailer recently circulated 20% off coupons to be used on Grandparents Day (September 7th) so doting grandmas and grandpas could treat their offspring to a … Continue reading →

A Life Weighed Against Euthanasia

Courtney’s blog on Euthanasia stirred this blog. I’ve had situations where I’ve had to have dogs put down because they were in so much pain and know the feelings it aroused in me. It’s a terrible feeling. I can’t imagine what it would feel like with a person. I was upset enough when our pup got hurt last week. Years ago when my Mom was suffering with cancer I remember something on TV at the time about how a person took the situation into their own hands and helped their loved one die. Even though I don’t agree with euthanasia, … Continue reading →

Grandparents, Are You Being Fair? – Part 2

Yesterday we looked at how grandparents are unfair to their own offspring by abdicating any responsibility for the welfare, behavior and building of character of grandchildren by spoiling them and allowing them to do as they please. But there is another way that grandparents can be unfair. That is favoritism. Favoritism can create extremely difficult situations. We see in the Bible of the problems that occur in families. Look at the problems that occurred because Rebekah favored Jacob and Isaac favored Esau, Genesis 25:28. It resulted in deceit, a family split apart, and hate and lack of forgiveness that continued … Continue reading →

Grandparents, Are You Being Fair?

Grandparents are you being fair to your children and your grandchildren? Too often I hear grandparents say they enjoy having grandchildren because ‘I can spoil them rotten and then hand them back to their parents.’ I’m appalled whenever I hear grandparents make such comments. When my Mom was alive no-one could have loved her grandson more but she never spoilt him. She treated him the same way she treated me growing up –by showing lots of love but not spoiling him and buying things all the time and certainly not by letting him misbehave or run rampant. If he was … Continue reading →

Kinship Foster Care

My last two blogs defined kinship adoption and discussed its advantages and disadvantages. This blog is about the related topic of kinship foster care. Some estimates say that nearly half of the children in foster care are living with relatives. This is very hard to measure, as many families may be taking care of grandchildren, nieces or nephews informally. As with kinship adoption, the major advantage of kinship foster care is that the children are with someone familiar instead of being further traumatized or frightened by being placed with strangers. Many children also find living with relatives to be less … Continue reading →

Grandparents who are Just Too Much

How can you actually have too much of a good thing? And, aren’t grandparents a truly good thing in our child’s life? For parents who have to deal with unsolicited advice, over-available grandparents, intervention and interruptions and other overly-involved grandparents, too much of a good thing can just be too much! I do not know how many times I have listened as a parent complained about an overbearing grandparent—one who is stopping by or calling continuously or butting in and offering advice and criticism. Some grandparents even go so far as to take children out for hair cuts, buy them … Continue reading →

What Separates Friends?

When we think of what can separate friends, we might think of time and distance, or busyness or family. But listen to what the bible says can separate friends. Gossip! ‘A perverse man stirs up dissension and a gossip separates close friends,’ Proverbs 16:8. Or this one, ‘He who covers over an offence promotes love but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends,’ Proverbs 17:9. Gossip to our friends about another person, or about our friends to a third party, is a betrayal of trust. Proverbs 11:13 tells us ‘A gossip betrays a confidence but a trustworthy man (or woman) … Continue reading →

Should Others Have to Endure Our Kids’ Fighting?

Recently, someone told me that she couldn’t understand why her in-laws were so short-tempered with her arguing offspring. While I could understand why this mom had her feelings hurt and felt as though both she and her children were being judged, I could also see the grandparents’ point of view—they wanted to enjoy their grand kids and didn’t want to have to mediate or discipline them. Just like parents, some grandparents (aunts, uncles, friends, etc.) have various expectations of children and various skill levels when it comes to keeping the peace. But, how much, really, should others have to endure … Continue reading →

When Your Child’s Grandparent is a Narcissist

We have looked at many articles concerning what it is like to be the child of a narcissistic parent (see below). But what happens when you, the child of a narcissist, go on to have children of your own? How does having children influence your relationship with your narcissistic parent? Having children of your own is probably the biggest wake-up call you will ever have in your life. This applies to members of most dysfunctional families, but children of a narcissistic parent are particularly susceptible to feelings of doubt and insecurity about their own skills as a parent. Not having … Continue reading →

Reunited and It Feels So…Good? – Learning to Be a Couple Again

After enduring months of separation due to job circumstances, late last November my commuter marriage came to an end. Wayne got back his old job, quit the new one, and came home. It’s been an adjustment ever since. Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled he’s home. I’m thrilled I don’t have the hassle of dealing with showings and fretting about doing certain things by myself anymore. (Like hurrying to tidy up any messes when a showing appointment was made.) Basically, I’m just thrilled he’s around to help with certain chores (like walking Murph in the mornings) and we’re back together … Continue reading →