We often hear couples speak about their partner as their “best friend.” There may be a lesson here for the multigenerational household. What if everyone was able to treat everyone else as a friend instead of, or better yet in addition to, them being a relative. Is you grandfather-in-law your friend? Is your niece your..Read the rest…

One of our staff came back to the office from vacation that included a small family reunion. It was the first time in nearly a decade that all four brothers and sisters were in the same place at the same time. She reported one interesting evening when they were trying to tell the story of..Read the rest…

We were stumped when we saw the ad for a “multigenerational sale.” What could that possibly mean? Sure yard sales and estate sales often have a lot of old stuff being offered, did the multi-gen tag just mean that? Fortunately we had a staffer living within driving distance of the advertised address so we asked..Read the rest…

A good friend of ours was frustrated that she and her daughter seemed to agree on absolutely nothing. Not clothes, food, who she should date, if she should date, movies, art and in particular what are appropriate rules for a 13 yr. old girl.
Fortunately for our friend, she lives in a multigenerational situation with her..Read the rest…

Ask anyone over fifty and they will tell you the first time they felt dismissed. Ask any teenager and they will tell you about more than one time when they heard: “You’ll understand when you’re older.”
The fact of the matter is that when it comes to age, nearly all of us are bigots! We dismiss..Read the rest…

There is a wealth of literature about intergenerational cooperation in the workplace. Also it seems there is a lot of concern about the changing of the generational guard in large businesses. For instance:
“Something must be done to prevent the loss of intellectual capital as Baby Boomers and Traditionalists retire and fail to pass on their..Read the rest…

“So what is living with your parents really like?”
“How does it work with two mothers under the same roof?”
“Doesn’t Grandma spoil the kids?”
“Who sets the rules? Who enforces them?”
Go ahead you probably have another dozen questions about entering into a multigenerational living situation. We know we do. So we sat down with some folks who..Read the rest…

New Multi-Gen Comic Strip: Cartoonist Ed Stein will be launching a new comic strip on September 20th. The strip is called Freshly Squeezed and will be based on a multi-generational household. ”Can three generations of one family share their lives, their feelings, their dwindling fortune — and a bathroom?” Apparently these questions all get their humorous due. So..Read the rest…

We don’t mean to make too much of a joke about the results of this study, but it does seem to confirm what anyone involved in intergenerational programs knew already. We are referring to a study done on the intergenerational JEWEL (Joining Elders with Early Learners) program in Westchester County, New York. The object..Read the rest…

Suppose we asked you — “Is there a major difference in views between the young and the old?”
Would it surprise you that nearly 75% say yes to that question? Would it further surprise you if we told you that number is higher than the answer to that same question asked in 1969? OK, not much..Read the rest…