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Sun sets on the golden age of grandparents

Jul 21

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Bernard Salt

I am concerned about the viability and social influence of the Australian grandparent. Here is why I think this role is under threat.

I suspect that we have just passed through a 40-year phase that will eventually become known as the golden age of the grandparent.

Most people these days seem to graduate into the blissful state of being a grandparent soon after the age of 60. The reason being that while they may have had children at 25, these children themselves are unlikely to reproduce today until perhaps 35.

This means that given an average life span of 80 years, the best today’s grandparents can hope for is to see the first of their grandchildren through to their 21st birthday.

This is very different to the situation 40 years ago (say, 1970) at the beginning of the golden age of the grandparent.

At that time it was not uncommon for couples to become grandparents in their early 40s. They would have married soon after the war and perhaps produced four to six baby-boomer children in the following decade.
theaustralian.com.au

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They love being grandparents, but call them something else

Jun 2

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By Linda Matchan, Globe Staff

As the youth-obsessed baby boomers advance, albeit reluctantly, into the next phase of their lives, they are embracing grandparenthood with the same gusto they have expressed for everything else, be it exercise or adventure travel. They’re loading the grandkids’ video games onto their own iPods, listening to their music, and taking them on trips.

But grandparenting comes with a catch: It means you are getting old – or at least older. And that’s not sitting well with a generation that grew up on The Who singing, “I hope I die before I get old.” Sure, they want to be grandparents. Just don’t call them that.

Call them, say, “David” or “Margot.” David and Margot de Ferranti’s grandson does. “Being on a first-name basis with your grandkids is great,” said David, 63, an economist who lives near Washington, D.C., and has a grandson in Boston. “I can delude myself that I’m 20 years younger than I really am, and they can tackle me on their terms, not as an ancient relic.”

“I didn’t like any of the names I heard people calling grandmothers,” Margot, also 63, explained. “I’d rather hear someone calling me ‘Margot’ than ‘Grandma’ in public.”

What’s wrong with “Grandma”?

“It has such baggage with it,” said Lin Wellford, 57, co-author of “The New Grandparents Name Book,” a compendium of suggestions inspired by her becoming a grandparent.
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