How to Really Love Your Grandchild: .... in an Ever-Changing World

Ross Campbell (How to Really Love/How to Really Parent) is one of the few authors who really "get it" as far as child rearing/adult self-help goes!! Biblical, balanced, easy to read; he's the best! I also love Susan Forward (Toxic Parents/Emotional Blackmail), Martha Heineman Pieper/William J. Pieper (Addicted to Unhappiness/Smart Love), and Alice Miller (For Your Own Good).

In this rapidly evolving, volatile, and complex world, our children are growing up today having to experience and deal with different pressures, ways of amusement, music and technologies that many grandparents may not be accustomed to. Dr. Ross Campbell draws upon his more than thirty years as a clinical psychiatrist and parent/child relationship expert in writing "How to Really Love Your Grandchild... in an Ever-Changing World", a thoughtful, down-to-earth parenting guide specifically for grandparents who are involved in the lives of their grandchildren. Those grandparents will delight in the stories and benefit from the advice that is presented through an "I'm-in-this-with-you" approach by Dr. Campbell. Encouraging and thoughtful "How to Really Love Your Grandchild... in an Ever-Changing World" provides useful and practical insights to grandparents on just how to go about providing the extra love and emotional support that only a grandparent can give a grandchild. If there is friction between the grandparent and their grandchild's parents, or if a grandparent hasn't kept up with a grandchild's interest the way they would have liked to, no matter what the situation that arises in the relationship, "How to Really Love Your Grandchild... in an Ever-Changing World" offers sound, accessible, 'user friendly' advice on bridging the gap so a grandparent can be there for their grandchild. "How to Really Love Your Grandchild... in an Ever-Changing World" is especially recommended for community library Parenting Studies reference collections and reading lists.

As grandparents, our only job is to love and enjoy these wonderful little creatures. Loving our grandchildren is easy. It's the most amazing experience in the world. Still, grandparenting in today's modern world does provide a few challenges. Your life might have been quite different from your parents and grandparents. For the most part, our own parents and grandparents lived in a child-friendly, family oriented society. Television shows and movies were geared towards family entertainment. Communities were designed for raising children. No one thought twice about disciplining a wayward child, even if that child wasn't yours. Obviously, this has changed. We may not have raised our own children in the "malt-shop era". However, our own values are still based upon these generalized views which continued into the 80's. Therefore, we have to be extremely careful about judgmental reactions as they won't help our grandchildren. How to Really Love Your Grandchild is a wonderful resource to help grandparents through these and other issues. Being a young grandmother, I never realized how different my grandson's world will be compared to my own childhood. Perhaps that just makes my role as grandmother that much more important.

Reviewed by Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (9/08) Boy! This book took me by surprise! I really thought it was going to be one of those books that told you everything you were doing wrong as a grandparent. It was just the opposite. Dr. Campbell's startling insight on being a child in today's world, as well as being a grandparent was right on target. It never occurred to me that I might be modeling the wrong role for my granddaughter by using the rules and examples I learned from my parents. There were so many wonderful chapters that really made me look at my relationship with my adult daughter and how sometimes I might sabotage her parenting skills as a single mother by using outdated thoughts and actions and over-doting on my granddaughter. I think the one chapter that hit me the hardest (opened my eyes up the most) is when the grandchild would rather be with the grandmother rather than her own mother. I know this is one conversation I am going to have with my daughter very soon. The book gave so many great examples, provided some spiritual guidance and helpful hints that you could use right away. I made a list as I was reading and making notations in the margins of "How to Really Love Your Grandchild" - changes that I need to make to ensure my granddaughter is loved, is taught and provided legacies for later in life.

"How To Really Love Your Grandchild" is a valuable tool for parents, grandparents, and anyone who aspires to one of those roles. This non-fiction title by D. Ross Campbell begins with charming quotes from his own grandchildren about what Grandparents mean to them. It ends with helpful resources: a study guide and a list of how to get the most out of the book. The beauty of this book is that it looks at grand-parenting from the non-traditional roles that grandparents now encounter including distance relationships and being a parent rather than a grandparent. This would be a wonderful reading group pick for grandparents.