Long-Distance Grandparenting: Connecting With Your Grandchildren from Afar [Paperback]

Willma Willis Gore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2007

In today’s mobile society, effective and rewarding grandparenting is a challenge for everyone—for parents, grandparents, and grandkids. What’s a grandparent to do? Enter Long-Distance Grandparenting: Connecting with Your Grandchildren from Afar. Chock-full of advice and warming anecdotes from active, long-distance grandparents.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

"Rewarding and productive grandparent-grandchild relationships evolve in as many different ways as there are there are grandparents and grandchildren."

About the Author

Willma Willis Gore has been a grandmother for 25 years. As a lifelong writer, her byline has appeared on articles, poetry, and short stories in more than 80 national and regional journals. She is the author of Just Pencil Me In: Your Guide to Moving After 60. Gore has been named one of three Accomplished Elders by the Northern Arizona Area Agencies on Aging.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Linden Publishing (September 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1884956750
• ISBN-13: 978-1884956751
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #353,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Family Relationships > Grandparenting

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Ideal Primer For Long-Distance Grandparenting, November 27, 2007

By 

Georgia A. Hubley (Henderson, NV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Long-Distance Grandparenting: Connecting With Your Grandchildren from Afar (Paperback)

This is the only self-help long-distance grandparenting book you'll ever need to read. Regretfully, "Over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house we go," no longer applies to most families in this day and age, but this book delves nicely into bridging the miles between grandparents and their grandchildren. It is the ideal primer for grandparents to stay in touch and be involved in their grandchildren's lives. Author, Willma Willis Gore's, Long-Distance Grandparenting -- Connecting with Your Grandchildren from Afar, is both an inspirational and motivational book that hones in precisely on how to cope with guilt ridden days and the longing so many grandparents experience from time to time. I've enjoyed and admired the author's other books, and she's done it again -- this one's a must read too!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grandparents Preserve Yesterday's Ties, December 21, 2007

By 

Susan Stewart (California, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Long-Distance Grandparenting: Connecting With Your Grandchildren from Afar (Paperback)

Today's Grandparents Preserve Yesterday's Ties

... a New Book Tells Us How

by Susan Stewart

The American nuclear family, as defined by the iconic Leave It To Beaver and other television sitcoms during the 1950s and `60s is--more than half a century later--the exception rather than the rule. High rates of divorce, the emergence of "blended" families, single and same gender parenting, and a much more mobile society have all contributed to a dramatic redefinition of family. And the "extended" family as we once knew it--those eccentric aunts, feisty uncles, quirky cousins, and beloved grandparents who used to live nearby--has all but disappeared. Today's grandparents are traversing entirely new territory, both literally and figuratively. And the distances can be daunting.

Long-Distance Grandparenting, Connecting with your Grandchildren from Afar offers a sturdy bridge for the many modern grandparents left wondering how they will adjust to this ever-shifting landscape. Award-winning author and grandmother for some twenty-five years, Willma Willis Gore has written a book that is entertaining, informative, practical, and poignant.

"All grandparenting experiences are not created equal," writes Gore in the introduction. "Grandparents sometimes become rivals. Money can be scarce, time and transportation can be problems. Schedules conflict." So Gore interviewed dozens of grandparents, their children and grandchildren and infused every chapter with their stories, often quoting them directly.

Ten well-titled chapters, anecdotes with headings, and a comprehensive resources section steer the reader easily toward the most helpful sections. How does one, for example, deal with the concept of "rules" when parents and grandparents differ? Chapter 2, titled "Rules for Grandparents, Parents, and Grandkids" offers sound, effective guidelines.

What about the murky waters of giving advice? Try Chapter 4, "Risks and Rewards of Grandparent Advice." What happens when grandchildren move overseas? One anecdote is headed, "When the Split Takes the Grandchild Far Away."

The practical importance of thank-yous, the reinvention of letter-writing, and the magic of the internet are explored. And a special chapter just for men offers often-neglected grandfathers unique methods for cultivating special ties beyond the usual fishing, fixing, and phoning.

The author also addresses the less tangible aspects of long-distance grandparenting, such as understanding that perfection is an impractical goal, that change is the only constant, and that knowing when to say "no" is crucial to preserving honest, loving relationships

Clashing grandparents, truculent teens, confusing messages, and sibling rivalry are all discussed, with practical, inventive, and thorough advice for each. Never preachy and far from sappy, Long-Distance Grandparenting is written with brevity, humor, and heart.

Its inclusive approach does not judge or even opine; rather it illustrates the many faces of grandparents today and addresses the change with stoic optimism.

Real-life solutions from authentic situations are the hallmark of this charming book. Long-Distance Grandparenting gives readers the feeling that anyone can find creative ways to establish and sustain a loving connection with their grandchildren--preserving and protecting one precious and irreplaceable relationship in the ever-changing face of the American family.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful to all Grandparents, November 28, 2007

By 

Marilyn Meredith "Author of Bears With Us" (Springville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Long-Distance Grandparenting: Connecting With Your Grandchildren from Afar (Paperback)

Nowadays many of us find ourselves not living near to our grandkids. In order to keep in touch, Long Distance Grandparenting, has some delightful and innovative ideas to keep in touch with your grandkids and make sure they know who you really are for themselves--not just what their parents have told them.

Author Willma Gore has done a great job of gathering diverse information into one easy to read and delightful book.

Highly recommended for all grandparents.