Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are requested.

Families need families. Parents need to be parented. Grandparents, aunts, and uncles are back in fashion because they are necessary. Stresses on many families are out of proportion to anything two parents can handle.

Parents don't make mistakes because they don't care, but because they care so deeply.

A family's responses to crisis or to a new situation mirror those of a child. That is to say, the way a small child deals with a new challenge (for instance, learning to walk) has certain predictable stages: regression, anxiety, mastery, new energy, growth, and feedback for future achievement. These stages can also be seen in adults coping with new life events, whether positive or negative.

A grandchild is a miracle, but a renewed relationship with your own children is even a greater one.

Grandparents who want to be truly helpful will do well to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to themselves until these are requested.

A newborn already has nine months of experience when she is born.