What to do when child abuse is suspected or witnessed BY KAREN L. RANCOURT  I recently received an email from a distraught set of grandparents who suspected that their granddaughter

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A New Kind of Helper BY KAREN RANCOURT During challenging times, everyone’s ideal neighbor, Mr. Fred Rogers, offered his famous advice to look for the helpers. “When I was a boy

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How grandparents can stay connected to their grandchildren who are away at college BY KAREN L. RANCOURT  When grandparents are asked about barriers to spending in-person time with their grandchildren,

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Ask Dr. Gramma Karen: An Aunt’s Family Role BY KAREN RANCOURT In many families, aunts and uncles often play critical roles in the lives of their nieces and nephews and

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How Grandparents Can Be A Front-Line Resource For College-age Grandkids BY KAREN L. RANCOURT I was recently contacted by a set of grandparents who wanted my advice about resources and

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Gloria’s Ten Commandments for Elders Living with Their Grown Children BY DR. KAREN RANCOURT I smile whenever I think of my friend’s mother, Gloria. She was one of those high-energy,

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5 Things Not To Say To Your Grandchildren By Karen L. Rancourt L. RANCOURT –  AKA – Ask Grandma Karen Summertime for many families means vacations and more time together

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Disagreements about the use of a ventilator to treat Covid-19 BY KAREN L. RANCOURT I was lying on the floor doing my stretching exercises, when all of a sudden, I

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Want your grandchildren to live in a democracy? I sure do, and obviously, so does Karen Rancourt, the author of an opinion piece that was just published by South Florida

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. . . the Origin of Mother’s Day? Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) Mother’s Day, created by Anna Jarvis, was first celebrated at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10,

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Help! My Son-In-Law Is Abusive Dear Dr. Gramma Karen, Our daughter Joan married Donald ten years ago. We all knew there was something off about him; he is very controlling and very insecure. Before they got married, my husband, who is

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Ways to make that family road trip even more fun BY KAREN L. RANCOURT A grandmother recently asked me how she and her husband could make a road trip they

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DEAR DR. GRAMMA KAREN: When my daughter, Mandy, was nine months pregnant, her boyfriend was sentenced to six months of work release. She had the baby and stayed with us for several

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After I’m gone, take out the garbage BY KAREN L. RANCOURT   “How often do you clean that?” asked my husband Gary. He was referring to the air cooler that is

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By Karen L. Rancourt, Ph.D.  (AKA – Ask Grandma Karen) As a parent or grandparent, you cannot escape making the to-watch or not-to-watch decision about 13 Reasons Why, the Netflix

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BY KAREN L. RANCOURT, Ph.D Before the election I wrote two columns on the impact of the campaign on family relationships: (1) “Grandparents’ Political Rants Are Upsetting;” (2) “Readers’ Responses

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BY KAREN L. RANCOURT I am often asked for advice by grandparents whose grandchildren ask them about some family secret. Families keep secrets for a variety of reasons, including: divorce;

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Meet Gramma Karen Our GRANDParent Network member, Donne Davis of GaGaSisterHood.com has launched a cool new podcast just for us GRANDparents called Conversations with Modern Grandmas. Her second  live “Conversations with

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When a spouse passes, what you say matters BY KAREN L. RANCOURT According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 800,000 spouses are widowed each year. Although family members and friends may

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By Karen L. Rancourt Are you among the 57 percent of adults who have not put their legal and financial affairs in order? Do you want family members to gather

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