She had no idea how the rock ‘n’ rollin’ baby boomer she perceived herself to be would be able to transition into what seemed a sedate grandparents’ existence.
“Grandparents Rock, The Grandparenting Guide For the Rock-N-Roll Generation,” is the book Burns penned 15 years later. It recently was named a finalist in the Parenting/Family category in the National Best Books 2007 Awards for USABookNews.com.
The book is the inspirational tale of her experience as a grandparenting member of the generation she said “never expected to age.”
As a new grandmother, Burns had gone looking for books that would offer fun ways to get involved with her grandchildren. Everything she picked up was dated, with suggestions that presumed the reader was in the middle of nowhere and had nothing to do.
Burns played with Dylan, and made stuff up as she went along, always doing what came naturally for her. Sometimes that included building forts with broccoli, gelatin squares and ice cream cones for little green Army men on a table in the middle of a restaurant.
Every time she had an idea, she wrote it down and filed it away.
Each chapter in Burns’ book is named after a classic rock ‘n’ roll hit and how it applied to her life at that time, which is why Chapter 1 was aptly titled, “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”
Most of the baby boomers becoming grandparents today are in their 50s or approaching 60, Burns said, but neither she nor the people she interviewed for her book have any intention of slowing down.
