Lois Wyse: ThirdAge Insider |
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Dear Lois
When a grandmother wrote to complain about her grandchildren's bad manners (a result, she thinks, of her daughter-in-law's working), you said she should stop complaining and educate the children herself. That's okay, but I am appalled at the myopic point of view. Neither you nor Granny mentioned her son, the father of her children. Shame on the two of you for not pulling your heads out of the cave of archaic thinking sooner. Men are more than sperm-donors and should be held accountable for their offspring. A grandfather's role is important also and should not be overlooked. However, no influence is so profound as that of the mother and the father. DISGUSTED WITH FINGER-POINTING Dear Disgusted
I get it! The finger points at me, and I'm guilty. OK, all you football-watching fathers, all you guys holding two jobs to keep one household together, all you dads who think kids are pals, here are your marching orders. Get off the sofa and teach those children what they need to know, everything from how to hold a fork to how to hold a door when an older person is with them. By the way, you're not the only reader who wrote to remind me I was not an equal opportunity advisor.
Dear Lois
I am a grandmother of four; all my children live in the United States and Canada, so we are absentee grandparents. It is very hard. Recently we acquired a computer. It was the greatest decision we made. Now I can email and chat with my children every day if we want. We are semi-retired; my husband sells insurance, and I restore and paint statues. I believe all children should appreciate grandparents, and there should be a balance. SELMA Dear Selma
The computer is to this generation of grandparents what television was to the last. Computers bring not only the world, but the family as well, into our homes whenever we want. The greatest growth in the computer market, by the way, is among women over 50. No more giggly grannies who say, "Oh computers are for kids." We get it; we do it; we love it.
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