6 min read
Gifts for a Grandparent Who Says They Don’t Want Anything
They mean it, mostly. What they are declining is more objects — which narrows the field usefully rather than leaving you stuck.
Read →On family stories
Why the stories families tell shape the children who hear them, how to ask better questions while you still can, and what actually survives a generation.
7 min read
How to Interview a Parent Without It Getting Weird
The awkwardness is the real obstacle, not the questions. What to say when you sit down, how to handle deflection, and when to stop.
Read →6 min read
What Happens to a Family Story in Three Generations
Almost everything you know about your grandparents will be gone within two generations. Not because anyone forgets — because nobody writes down the ordinary parts.
Read →7 min read
Telling Children About a Grandparent They Never Met
How to make someone real to a child who has no memory of them — and why "he would have loved you" is a harder sentence than it sounds.
Read →7 min read
The Best Personalized Books for Grandparents (and Why Most Get It Backwards)
Almost every personalized book sold as a gift for grandparents is really a book about the grandchild. Here are the options, and when each one is the right call.
Read →8 min read
Wonderbly vs Hooray Heroes vs a Real Family Story
The two biggest personalized children’s book companies compared on what they actually personalize — and what neither of them does.
Read →7 min read
Making a Book About Someone Who Has Died
How to write down a life for children who won’t remember, or never met them at all — what to include, what to leave out, and when it’s too soon.
Read →8 min read
Storyworth Alternatives: An Honest Comparison
Storyworth, Remento, Keepsake and illustrated family books compared on what actually differs — who has to do the writing, how long it takes, and what you end up holding.
Read →8 min read
Why Children Need the Hard Parts of Family Stories
Emory researchers found the families whose children coped best weren’t the ones with the happiest stories. They were the ones who talked about the hard parts too.
Read →9 min read
52 Questions to Ask a Grandparent Before It’s Too Late
The questions that actually get people talking, grouped by the era of a life, plus what to do when someone says “oh, there’s nothing to tell.”
Read →7 min read
Most Personalized Children’s Books Aren’t Really Personalized
Nearly every personalized kids’ book changes the name and the hair colour, then tells the same story to everyone. Here is the test that separates a template from a real one.
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