Resources

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Articles

This eclectic selection of articles is useful to all. Keep popping back as new ones are added regularly.

•  How to drive an expat crazy: 10 ways to irritate someone who has lived abroad.
• Long Distance Grandparenting 
• Loneliness - Long Distance Granny
• The pleasure and pain in raising an independent daughter
• ​Are your affairs in order before your travel?
• Top tips for staying in touch across the globe
• ​Dear Mary-anne: My son-in-law drank all our booze
• "I'm not breaking my kids" and other things expats would like to say
• How living abroad helps you develop a clearer sense of self
• When your last goodbye was your last goodbye: Processing death and life abroad.
• ​Why the world now has more grandparents than grandchildren
• Why you should plan a trip with your Mother every year
• Far from Home, Stuck in a Limbo
• Becoming a grandparent during the coronavirus pandemic
• Lessons From a Long-Distance Grandfather
• When Grandchildren are estranged from their Grandchildren
• What to say to your parents when they are dying
• With borders closed, our lifelines to family overseas have been cut. The isolation is suffocating
• Difficult daughter-in-law? How do you build a positive relationship with her?​
• Our son and grandson are in New Zealand and we are in tears over not being able to be with them
• The difference between self-compassion and self-pity​
• Life will never be the same for people over 60 — even with a COVID-19 vaccine
• Top 10 tips for long distance grandparenting
• Over The River & Through The Woods: Long Distance Grandparenting
• Pandemic Grandparenting, Beyond the Dreary Video Calls
• The Many Faces of Pandemic Grief
• Read This Before You Fly Anywhere for the Holidays
• Resources on Grandparent Estrangement & Alienation

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Sneak Preview of Being a Distance Grandparent

Distance Families, Covid-19 and Ambiguous Loss
Sharing the worlds of distance family and... Thanksgiving

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Helpful reading​

​If there is estrangement, or very strained relationships in your family I can recommend: Stop Walking on Egg Shells

​If you would like to know HOW to best pour love into each family member, especially when distance is an ingredient this book will help. Time and opportunities are limited ... and you want to get it right ... every time. The key is don't show love in the way YOU like to be loved, but love them as THEY like to be shown love.  They are not necessarily two of the same.! The Five Love Languages

Podcast

The Grand Life
​Author Emily Morgan hosts an excellent exploration of grandparenting (local and distance), the relationships within the role, and the ways in which grandparenting impacts our children…and their children. 

Professional Services

Expatriate Law
International Family Law matters

Handy digital tools

• 31 Ways to Connect with Grandchildren from a distance
• ​Distance Learning: Grandparents reading remotely
• Grandchildren share online school assignments via the screen share feature of Zoom
• Make a copy of a favourite children's book and send it to your grandchildren so you can read it together
• 10 organizations connecting generations during the pandemic
• Use TeamViewer to provide remote digital support for family
• Grandparent-grandchildren video calls are vital during COVID-19. Here are simple ways to improve them.

Webinar & Podcast

The Green Room, Induku Consulting Group, South Africa with Helen Ellis (2020 October) Navigating Distance Grandparenting. Webinar

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​Schneider-Bean, Sundae & Ellis, Helen. (2020, June).  '179: Distance Grandparenting with Helen Ellis', ​The Expat Happy Hour (below) Podcast.

Research

​Ellis, H. (2019, November). 'Being a kiwi long-haul distance grandparent: You cannot cuddle an iPad'. Presented at 8th Annual Emerging Researchers Conference, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand.
[Conference Oral Presentation] Authored by: Ellis, H.
 
Ellis, H. (2019, November). 'Being a kiwi long-haul distance grandparent: You cannot cuddle an iPad'. Presented at Breaking Boundaries ASAA/NZ Conference. Raglan, New Zealand.
[Conference Oral Presentation] Authored by: Ellis, H.

Ellis, H. (2020). '"How is distance grandparenting for you?" A study of long haul, New Zealand distance grandparents and inter-generational transnational familying', M.A. Thesis, Massey University, Auckland, N.Z.