Usually when a well-known person reveals her pregnancy, the paparazzi begin to circle, vulture-like, making sure their media outlet gets the first “baby-bump” photos.
But when Chelsea Clinton announced last Thursday that she was expecting at an event where she was appearing with her mother, Hillary garnered more attention than her daughter. Several hours later, during the evening news, many TV anchors gave a tease along the lines of “and when we come back, Hillary Clinton has a big announcement.”
Indeed she did! Shortly after the event with her daughter, the former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State — and possible future President — had tweeted: “My most exciting title yet: Grandmother-To-Be!”
Her status update went viral, and the talking heads spent more time discussing how Chelsea’s baby was going to affect Hillary’s political future than about what lay ahead for the pregnant mom. As New York Times writer Jodi Kantor noted, “Most pregnant women make a birth plan for when they go into labor: what to pack, how to get to the hospital. Chelsea Clinton’s arrangements might involve disguises, private security consultants and public relations strategy.”
In the press and on social media, all that juicy stuff was lost among the discussions about how being a grandmother might affect Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.
One thing is clear to me: Being a grandmother will not make Hillary Clinton seem “old.” Indeed, it may have an opposite effect.
Our pioneering boomer generation — we who went to Woodstock, invented the technology used by today’s so-called “digital natives” and had the guts to wear miniskirts or jeans to school at the risk of being sent home — are eagerly accepting our role of grandparents, proudly parading what used to be an indicator of old age.
The Prince of Wales Is Part of the Trend
The trend seems worldwide.
Prince Charles and his wife have appeared more frequently in pictures with their new grandchild, Prince George, than Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip did three decades ago after the births of Prince Harry and Prince William (father of Prince George).
Hearing a baby cry while at an award ceremony in March, the Prince of Wales joked to the crowd, "I think that baby needs something, a bottle perhaps. I know these things, I'm taking lessons in grandparenting."
Whether we’re British royalty, American pseudo-royalty (i.e., the Clinton or Bush families) or plain old everyday folk, boomers are fully embracing this new phase in our lives.
True, since the beginning of human kind, grandparents have played significant roles in raising their children’s children.
Until recently, households frequently included three generations or more. People have made jokes for years about how grandparents whip out photos of their grandchildren at the slightest provocation. It’s been a long-held truth that our own grandchildren are smarter, prettier, better athletes, cuter, more clever and sweeter than anyone else’s grandchildren.
Tackling This New Role
What seems to have changed in the past 50 years is the way we are perceived — and the way we view ourselves.
My grandmother would never have been called into active service to chauffeur my cousins or me to various after-school activities. (She was managing a small family grocery, which is impressive enough. But, still, we came to her; she did not come to us.)
My friends who are grandparents, by contrast (and if geographically possible), coach grandkids’ t-ball leagues, volunteer in classrooms and rush in to provide a much needed extra set of hands when a daughter-in-law gives birth to twins.
My own daughter has made clear that when she has children (no news, folks, and nothing expected for awhile), she anticipates that I will magically appear by the cradle, no matter what is happening in my own life.
She’s probably right.
Boomers, Babies In The Limelight
A lot has been written lately about women of 50 feeling ignored in the workplace and the world. “Invisibility is found in the small daily cuts. When the radiologist no longer asks if there’s any chance you’re pregnant. When the cashier at the movie theater, glancing indifferently at your gray roots, suggests you might want the senior discount (years before you might qualify),” Tira Harpaz observed (cutting to the quick), a year ago in Salon.
Men past 50 also feel expendable — ask any of them who lost a job in the most recent economic downturn. Will embracing our “grandparentness” make us more of a force to be reckoned with? Will the PR execs finally start gearing brand ads to us, their largest demographic?
Perhaps. Yes, perhaps.
Because whatever people may think of her, Hillary Clinton is far from invisible. And although I expect that American newspapers will emulate the British press in creating a cornucopia of information about the newest member of an American royal family (for an amazing look at the coverage of Prince George’s life from conception on, page through this Flipboard magazine), I think this particular pregnancy and birth may focus more on the grandma and grandpa than on the mama.
And to that — no matter what our politics — let us boomers say, “all right!” World, call us “grandma” and “grandpa,” but we own you! (Insert fist pump!)
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