The Changing Role of Grandparents

   Most married couples with children will tell you they can’t wait to be grandparents.  That’s certainly how it was in our family.  My mother thought the highest status in life was to be a grandmother.  I’m sure she shared with millions of men and women a similar idea that grandchildren were meant to be loved and spoiled, and then given back to their parents for appropriate discipline and the rest of the upbringing and the parenting.  However, I’m also sure that Mom would have thought twice about what it would mean if she and Dad had suddenly become the parents to their grandchildren.
   The most recent data we have on this situation is from a 2012 Census Bureau report that shows that 71,600 Wisconsin grandparents are living with their grandchildren.  Of that number, nearly 94% of those homes belong to the grandparent and in about 33% of those situations, no parent to the children is present.  Overall, in about 38% of these grandchildren living with the grandparents situations, the grandparents are responsible to one degree or another for the upbringing and general welfare of the children.
   I believe this statewide and nationwide trend of more grandparents rearing their grandchildren is yet another reliable indicator that our society is fraught with deep problems.  I dare say that most grandparents have taken on the responsibility of bringing up their grandchildren not be ...