Dear Reader,
Not too long ago, I was at the Jewish Community Center in Owings Mills and Sharon Seigel, director of parenting services at the JCC of Greater Baltimore, mentioned a trend that she was seeing among young Jewish families. In the past couple of years, she said, she had noticed an increase in grandparents taking a more active role in their grandchildren’s lives.
In the past, said Seigel, who has worked with “Mommy and Me” programs for more than 18 years, grandparents might babysit on weekends or visit the parenting classes with their children and grandchildren merely as observers. Now, they are stepping in to take over child-care, as more and more young mothers returned to work once their maternity leave ended.
Not only are these grandparents actively engaged in these infant and toddler classes; they are often found with their grandchildren in the JCC’s parenting center or eating together at the café.
I thought, what a great bonus this is for both these parties. I can recall when I returned to work part-time, my parents and mother-in-law each watched my young daughter one day a week. I believe they now share a special bond they wouldn’t otherwise have had. I also think of the memories they all share: the daylong baking adventure, making a “castle” cake after seeing a photo in a cookbook, the trips to Chuck E Cheese, and the family “restaurant” they created where fish bodies were sold, but not fish heads.
In “The New Generation of Grandparents,” iNSIDER looks at this trend and speaks with several grandparents about their new role. In addition, we take a look at another trend — that of the economy — and how the rising costs of being Jewish affects some decisions made by young families.
Speaking of trends, one of the ways many Jews connect across the generations and across the denominations is through the stewardship of the environment. This month, in time for Tu B’Shevat, the “birthday of the trees,” iNSIDER will begin a monthly piece on the environment and ways we as Jews can help out. It will be found in Inside Scoop.
So welcome back. We hope you had a nice winter break.
Sincerely,
Rochelle Eisenberg
Editor
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