Grandparents of recent years have generally been valued for their ability to dispense advice or money on demand—but were otherwise expected to remain silent and submissive in the background. This role tended to sustain them as they sought ways to bring new meaning into their lives and yet remain somehow relevant and of service to others.

That was then. This is now. Boomers and Beyond are finding new ways to put the “grand” back in grandparenting. Where grandparents of yesterday were viewed as sexless and sedentary, grandparents of today and tomorrow are hot, hot, hot—and have no intention of being relegated to the dustbin of 20^th century history.

When I was young, my ambition was to be a kind of “Auntie Mame” version of “Grandma” at a time when the children I was yet to have were having children of their own. I saw myself as being fashionable, fit, fun, energetic, enlightened, witty, and wise—and ready to teach the ways of the world to anyone younger who had the vigor to keep up with me. My “Auntie Mame” role model has only strengthened with time, and I am already planning ways in which to play it to the fullest. 

You are playing to history now, and you want to be seen as the grandest grandparent of all. Not only will your grandchildren adore you and vie for your attention, but you will also be defining yourself in new and exciting ways. And how grand is that?!