Grandmothers and ‘intensive parenting’

“My grandchildren are so busy with all their extra classes that I seem to spend most our time together acting as a taxi service.”

“When the children come to stay I’m constantly worried about keeping them safe.”

“ I’d love to have fun with them, but my daughter expects me to supervise their homework and test them on their spelling.”

Are today’s grandmothers too protective and anxious? Benedetta Cappelini, Professor of Marketing at the University of Durham, certainly thinks so. She talks to Sally Feldman, who is currently writing a book of advice for new grannies, about the effects of the new trend in intensive parenting.

‘Intensiveparenting’, with its emphasis on extra curricular activities, supervised ‘playdates’ and conversations about thoughts and feelings is fast becoming the norm for this generation of parents, requiring the investment of significant amounts of time, money and energy in raising children. What are the implications for grandparents who did not raise their own children in this way, but who regularly look after their grandchildren?