grandparenting
swings, what upset her, how she handled victories and defeats, how open she was about her feelings. Social came next—her friends, her conversational ability, who she liked to be with, her fears, her exposure to social media. And finally, her spiritual facet—where her heart and her faith were and how she responded to the church they took her to. It was fascinating for the four of us to do this con- versational deep dive into this child we all loved so much. As the two of us posed questions, listened, and took notes, we learned dozens of small things at that restaurant table that will help us love her better, and we felt that our kids-the-parents learned from their own answers and analysis of their child.
The conversation never stalled, in fact it picked up momentum and energy as we went along. And we were just getting started. We went on to their other three children, and the dinner lasted nearly three hours. What could be better than having an “intelligence gathering and strategy session” among the teaching and management team that is lovingly assigned to these four special projects? We’ve decided to do an update five-facet-review with the team at other good restaurants every couple of months.
With that tone, we had an amazing and illuminating evening. We started with their oldest child, and they reviewed how she was doing physically—everything from her general health to her teeth, and everything from her music and athletic abilities to her problems or issues. The two of them seemed to fuel each oth- er’s thoughts and ideas. Our daughter would say something, and her husband would pick up on it and elaborate. We avoided any judgement or criticism, or even any advice unless it was asked for directly… We asked clarifying questions and took notes. Then we went on to the mental—how she learned and studied, her academic assets and liabilities, how she related to her teacher at school, her natural apti- tudes, what was easy and what was hard for her, where her interests and passions lied, her imagination, her creativity. Then on to the emotional—her mood “ ”
Richard and Linda Eyre’s parenting and life-balance books have reached millions and been translated into a dozen languages. As fellow Baby Boomers, their passion and their writing focus has now shifted to the joy of Grandparenting. Linda’s latest book is Grandmothering , Richard’s is Being a Proactive grandfather , and their latest co-
We avoided any judgement or criti- cism, or even any advice unless it was asked for directly, and we comple- mented them at every opportunity, and made even more of a point of praising this granddaughter and telling them how great she was and how much and how well they were teaching her.
authored book is Life in Full. Watch for the Eyres’ new book “Grandparents’ Secrets” coming out next year.
10 GRANDP arenting
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