GRAND Magazine - May/June 2011 - (Page 36)

grandparent rights My way or the highway To keep the peace—and your grandchild—do BY SUSAN HOFFMAN Dear Susan, My son and his girlfriend were living with us throughout her pregnancy and until our first grandchild turned 1. Our son, Patrick, worked full time, and Kelly lost her job about halfway through her pregnancy, so she was home a lot. She was so hurtful toward my wife and me that nothing ever seemed right. Kelly got a job so they could save enough money to move out, and we offered to care for Pat Jr. while they were at work. We did everything for our grandson. Kelly criticized everything—from the clothes we bought him to the food we gave him. If we put him down for his nap too early because he seemed tired, then all hell broke loose. Susan Hoffman is the author of Grand Wishes: Advocating to Preserve the GrandparentGrandchild Bond and director of Advocates for Grandparent Grandchild Connection. I got angry and told her we weren’t willing to have her live in our house as long as she continued the verbal abuse. The next day she was gone. Our son and grandson moved out with her. He has tried to smooth things out, but she won’t listen. It has been months now, and our calls, emails and texts are not returned. We left messages that we just wanted to see our grandson without any interaction from the mom. Our son called and told us she said not to come over and to stop calling and messaging. And now, he’s not communicating. I don’t know what to do anymore—the pain is more than I can endure. —Enabling grandparents Bob and Teresa 36 GRAND MAY JUNE 2011 * photo: ©iStockphoto.com/ narvikk http://www.grandparentchildconnect.org/ http://www.grandparentchildconnect.org/ http://www.grandparentchildconnect.org/ http://www.grandparentchildconnect.org/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - May/June 2011

GRAND - May/June 2011
Grand Treasure Hunt
Table of Contents
Grand View
Grand Central
Rational Grandkids? Yes!
Bragging Rights
Cover Story: A Force For Good
Charlie & Gaytha Hillman: Grand Entrepreneurs
Improving Medicare
Grand Products
Growing Old vs. Growing Up
Too Old For Sex?
Kids as Caregivers
My Way or the Highway
Kinship Care
Find Fun Things To Do
Straight Talk on Disabilities
Look for the Moon in the Morning
Toys ’n Tech
Grand Finale
Op-Ed: Is Sex Forever?

GRAND Magazine - May/June 2011