Being a Grandparent: Just Like Being a Parent ... Only Different

Dr. Ray Guarendi believes that parenting is too important to be taken seriously—and that goes double for grandparenting. As a father of ten, clinical psychologist, radio host and author of many books about marriage and parenting, Dr. Ray has spent his career helping to strengthen families through a combination of Catholic theology, common-sense insights and wry humor. Now, having become a new grandpa himself, Dr. Ray is turning his attention to the joyful, rejuvenating and sometimes complicated subject of grandparenting.

In Being a Grandparent: Just Like Being a Parent...Only Different, he answers real questions from grands. Some wonder how being a grandparent will differ from being a parent, and want to mature into it with as few wrinkles as possible. Some are a daily presence in their grandchildren’s lives, perhaps even sharing a home with them and wanting their interactions to be as smooth as possible. Others live many miles away and fear yielding to the temptation of bribery to endear their distant grandbabies to them. Some are baffled as to why their own children are raising the grandkids so unlike they were raised—in practice, discipline or morals. Others see their grandchildren as difficult to be around, and ask what, if anything, they can do about it.

Whether you’re a “Grandma,” a “Poppy,” an “Opa” or a “Nana,” Dr. Ray can help you navigate this second go-round with children in a way that mirrors God’s own unconditional love for us. You’ll learn to balance the expertise you’ve banked during decades as a parent with the emotional dynamics of this new stage of life. And best of all, you’ll get a little extra insight into savoring the true, unabashed joy of grandparenthood.

Being a Grandparent makes a great gift for new grandparents and seasoned matriarchs and patriarchs alike.