How to Be the Perfect Grandma: Rules of the Game. This item is unavailable.How to Be the Perfect Grandma: Rules of the Game

Being a grandmother, writes Bryna Nelson Paston, is not one of life's free choices. "You can pick your pet, your alma mater, and your spouse. You can decide when to have kids and how many, if you're careful. You can be a doctor, lawyer, mountain climber, or plumber. But when and where you become a grandma is your kids' decision."

How to Be the Perfect Grandmother is a humorous, anecdotal gift book for grandmothers, grandmothers-to-be, grandmother wannabes, anyone who has a grandmother-and, of course, grandfathers.

Becoming a grandma is like getting a subpoena. You don't expect it. You don't know how to respond. You know you must be mature and accept it. Being a grandma, though, is as close as many of us ever get to perfection. There is only one little problem-the generation in the middle. "Dealing with your child and his or her spouse while you become the most relevant person in your grandchild's life is tricky at best and downright impossible at worst."

From that unique point of view, Paston has written a delightful book that explains the rules for grandmothers to assure they will be an important part of their grandchildren's lives. "We have a window of opportunity as grandparents," she writes, "usually five years, or maybe more if you're lucky. So you have to make your move fast and decisively. Your kids and their spouses will intrude, interrupt, and interfere. But persevere. Circumvent them, do exactly what you want, and lie-with dignity, I might add. Whatever it takes. Promise anything, but get the kid."

BRYNA NELSON PASTON is an overjoyed grandmother of six, aged three to ten, whom she calls “the music of my universe.” Formerly an editor of the Jewish Times (Philadelphia), she has written for numerous national magazines and newspapers. A graduate of Penn State, Paston lives in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania.