Terri Apter publishes guide to grandparenting today
The birth of a grandchild is a cause for celebration but when a child becomes a parent themselves, existing family structures can feel radically altered. It is this fascinating dynamic that Terri Apter explores in her new book Grandparenting: On Love and Relationships Across Generations.
Terri is a former Senior Tutor at Newnham College. She said grandparenting can be a time when tensions between parents and their adult children may come into sharp relief, exacerbated by changes in advice on child rearing (and lack of sleep).
The book has been described as ‘a warm, wise guide to being the best grandparent – and parent – you can be’. Drawing on research, her experience as a grandparent, and case studies from across the world, Terri explores the changing role that grandparents play in our society. This can include playing a hands-on role in caring for young children, under their own child’s supervision.
“I realised how interesting and underexplored grandparenting was when I became a grandparent 13 years ago, but it was not until I heard parents themselves puzzle over the need their parents had to be involved with grandchildren, and how challenging it could be to navigate different loves and aims and expectations of different generations, that I decided to write Grandparenting,” she said.
Terri, the author of eight other books about family matters including The Teen Interpreter and Difficult Mothers, will be in conversation with Susan Golombok at an event in Waterstones, Cambridge. 12 March, with a book signing to follow. You can read more about Grandparenting in this article: How to be a good grandparent without falling out with your children (The Times). Terri will also be talking about the book on Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, this Friday, 14 February
Photo shows Terri (left) at a Newnham College event.