Grandparenting Today

Think back to your childhood, and your own grandparents. Chances are, their experience was different from yours. Many grandparents today are still working and juggling their own busy lives while being present for their kids and their grandkids. No quiet days rocking on a porch, knitting or playing dominoes—grandparents today are active, engaged, and helping out in ways our grandparents may not have.   

It’s an exciting time to be a grandparent, but it may come with some new challenges too. Many grandparents are helping raise their grandkids, and discovering that a lot has changed from when they raised their own children.   

Fortunately, there are resources and nonprofit organizations to help:  

Learning Together   

Grandparents often want to be involved in their grandchild’s learning, but what and how children are learning is so different from when we were kids!   

• Head to our ‘Explore Topics’ page for all kinds of activities, games, books, media, and resources to support your grandchild’s learning and growth. You’ll also find more articles like this one for the important grown-ups in children’s lives, including you!  

 Raising Grandchildren  

If you are your grandchild’s primary caregiver, or are doing a large part, you know it is challenging work. These organizations provide a community for grandparents raising grandchildren.   

• Zero to Three offers programs, resources, and services for young children and their families. Check out their bilingual (English/Spanish) grandparenting videos, resources, and a guide for grandparents and parents on “sharing the care.”  
• Grand Family Coalition, Inc. is a network of grandparents and other kin raising kin. It is based in Colorado but includes an online library of national resources to support grandparents raising grandchildren.    
• AARP, an organization dedicated to empowering older Americans, has created a Grandfamilies Guide for resources and support.   

Advocacy  

Want to learn more about national policies and programs that support grandfamilies?   

• Generations United is dedicated to serving grandfamilies nationwide. Its National Center on Grandfamilies is working to create helpful programs and laws for grandfamilies.     
• Grandfamilies.org supports grandfamilies within and outside the child welfare system. Find programs and resources available in your state in the GrandFacts: State Fact Sheets for Grandparents and Other Relatives Raising Children.  

Despite all the things that may be different about grandparenting today, some things remain the same. Grandparents will always be a very important and treasured part of the family. Let’s hear it for grandparents!