Grandchildren in later life

Grandchildren are wonderful, you can have a lot of pleasure and give them back when you want to!

Here are some useful articles and sites of interest to grandparents, ranging from the subject of grandparenting to ideas on entertaining grandchildren and gifts for a grandchild's birthday.

If you're organising a grandchild's birthday party at home, games always go down well. Click on the Oranges and Lemons book opposite and order it from Amazon to get some excellent ideas for party games for small children.

Go to www.kids-party.com for loads of ideas about parties: how to find entertainers, where to hold a party, party games and themes and lots more. You should find all you need in the way of help.

The "Grandest Parents of all"
Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby, supplies a few tips for grandparents

Grannies with attitude
A lighthearted guide to the trials and joys of modern Grandmothering

When Grandparents bring up the Grandchildren
Increasing numbers of grandparents are taking on the task of bringing up their grandchildren because the parents themselves are unable or unwilling to do so.

Sadly, being a grandparent isn't always wine and roses. Sometimes helping with the care of your grandchildren can affect your relationships with your children and their spouse. laterlife's Maggi Stamp, a qualified and experienced relationship counsellor for Relate and in private practice, investigates what can be done to smooth ruffled feathers, among other topics in the articles below. Why not also have a look through the other articles in the laterlife Relationship Counselling Index to see if they can help you?

Articles:

Boundaries of being a grandparent
I don't like granny

Have you ever thought of creating a record of your family history as a gift for your Grandchildren, or alternatively creating a record of their lives in words and pictures with their involvement?

If you have ideas or experiences relating to grandchildren or grandparenting that would help or be of interest to others, then why not visit the laterlife cafe and join the discussion forum.

Useful sites for gifts for the Grandchildren:

Hamleys links to the online version of the well known Regent Street Toy Store - it includes recommended top buys as well as recommendations for your  grandchildren by age.

Otherland toys online Toys from Meccano to radio controlled cars.

Toys 'R' Us Online catalogue and shopping with home delivery, encyclopaedia, toy search engine, latest promotions and offers.

Books from Amazon

To find out more on the subjects of grandchildren and grandparenting, click on a book image either above or below.

The Grandparents’ Association's mission is to improve the lives of children, and they offer support for all grandparents in caring for, or maintaining contact with their grandchild. Go to (www.grandparents-association.org.uk) to see if they can help you.

Grandparents plus provides a support centre for grandparents, plus an information centre with statistics, research and a look at Grandparents in other countries.

Ask Jeeves for Kids is designed to help adults deal with the kind of questions children ask. The facilites are good and the site is attractive enough to visit with your grandchildren, to help get the answers, there are also links to kids' sites which you can direct them to.

Cyberparent/Gran has everything that a grandparent could possibly want to read about grandparenting

Kiddicare UK's number one online supplier of baby products and accessories including prams, pushchairs, car seats, baby furniture and baby equipment.

www.parents.org.uk is a site for parents of primary school age – but may be helpful to grandparents too. It includes information and ideas on Leisure and Health as well as on Education

grandparents magazine Another American site with some useful tips on grandparenting