Lots of bad news around for the nation's children.  Only 60 adoptions of babies last year….so our hearts go out to all those who remain in care and haven't found loving homes….over 60,000 of them! 

And then, the Howard League for Penal Reform accounces that more than 17,000 children are separated from their mothers who are in prison.  It's advocating more community sentences so that families don't have to be broken up in this way.  It says that many of the imprisoned mothers were held on remand and that of those convicted, the majority were for non-violent offences, and that if they'd been allowed to serve out their sentences in the community, 11,000 children could have been reunited with their mothers.  Sometimes you feel you need a paralegal degree to sort out how to make a better life for these children.

We're sure grandparents have been playing a great part in keeping these children safe and loved while their mothers are away, but surely it makes sense for us to reform our prison system so that it's not the children who are punished for their parents' crimes?

The story in today's Daily Mail about an app being developed for the iPhone which may obviate the need for glasses is music to our ears, if not eyes!

I'm sure most grandparents will sympathise when I recount just how difficult failing eyesight can be when around little ones?  Before I got into contact lenses, I found I was constantly wrong-footed: one minute a grandsonn would want me to read a story, the next to operate the remote control, then it would be lunchtime and I'd have to get packets out of the fridge and read their eat-by dates, or I'd need to check that cereals didn't contain nuts for the younger one who has allergies.  And every time I'd have to hunt for my reading glasses first, explain to the grandchildren that they had to wait a minute until I'd found them, and then eventually run the risk of having them yanked off my nose by the youngest who thought they were an intriguing-looking toy!

It's a sad fact of life that our eyesight begins to decline at around the same time that we need 20/20 vision most – ie when we are presented with our first grandchildren.  I've been saved by contact-lenses, but I feel for those people who can't get on with them. 

This new idea, to train our eyes using the iPhone or other computers, sounds almost too good to be true.  I read that it's unlikely to do away with glasses altogether and it sounds as if won't be any use for people like me whose sight deteriorated some years ago, but for the younger generation of grandparents it seems ideal.  Fingers crossed.

We like the sound of this inniative to get children talking in the classroom.  It's sad to learn that many children arrive at school lacking the ability to communicate effectively;  the idea of No Pens Day is simply to get them talking.  And many schools around the country are joining in with gusto.

Language development in small children is so fascinating;  it's one of the things we grandparents delight in as we monitor how our little ones learn words, copy parents and siblings and finally begin to put sentences together themselves.

I recall seeing my second grandson Arthur at one period before his second birthday, when he would repeat absolutely everything anyone said – whether it was to him or not.   He'd endlessly copy his older brother, repeating every single word – even long complicated ones – and all of that gave him masses of practice in trying out different bits of vocabulary. 

Two weeks later and he'd started to be spontaneous, talking about what he wanted to when he wanted to.  It was such a quick transition from repeating 'shoe' or 'garden' or 'bird' to saying 'I see a bird in the garden' and it was a joy to watch.  Now, nothing stops him, or his brother and life is one long chat-fest!

So how sad it seems that this isn't the case for every child.  That some must get pointed at, or shouted at, or have a cup of milk plonked in front of them without ever know what it's called or how to say it.  This is why NO PENS DAY SEEMS an excellent idea.

Everyone's going on about 5 these days - 5 things parents should do with kids every day, Ed Ball's 5 point plan to stimulate growth, so we thought we'd have a light-hearted go at putting together a list of 5 things that make the perfect (?) grandparent.  See what you think.

1.      1.    Make yourself constantly available (i.e. have nothing else in your life, so you're ready to drop everything the   minute there’s a cold/flu/sickness bug)

2.     2.    Be permanently at the ready with a fridge/store cupboard constantly stocked full of in-date food items

3.     3.    Wear clothes with pockets (in which to store keys, tissues, baby-wipes, bribes, stones, leaves and random   treasures)

4.     4.  Practice getting up early – ( i.e. before dawn whatever the time of year)

5.   5.    Be a good listener  (to what the parents want, what the children are allowed v what they’re trying on, and where it hurts)

The reports in yesterday's Sunday Times and today's Daily Mail that the head of the Royal College of Nursing – Dr. Peter Carter – wants relatives to go into hospitals to feed and take care of their elderly relations sound absolutely bonkers – and alarming to us.

What are hospitals for, if not for us to turn to in times of greatest need….?  What are nurses for if not to 'take care' of their patients, nurse them back to health and see to their every need?

It's an alarming suggestion partly because it shows just how out of touch Dr. Peter Carter must be with the reality of everyday life for most folk today.  After all, most adults are out at work and most children are at school.  So where are these hoards of relations supposed to come from?

I remember only too well when my own mother was in hospital and had to plead with the nurses to find time to fetch her a glass of water.  Obviously when we were there, we fetched it ourselves and helped with her meals and anything else she wanted.  But the reality for me, and for so many others, I fear, is that she lived an hour and a half''s drive from us.  And if I attempted to reach her by public transport, two hours at least.  And I had a family and work to do near my home.  So there was absolutly no way I could be there day in day out to help with every meal time and certainly no way  my children, who were at school and  university, could take her to the loo every time she felt the need!

I think Dr. Carter forgets that families are separated by distance often now;  that they are busy with work and that the idea of hospital used to be that it was a safe, caring place where you know people would go for sanctuary, safety, kindliness as well as good medical  care.  If hospitals and nurses want to shed these additional responsibilites, they might as well employ robots.

How good to see Prince William opening up about his feelings towards his grandmother.  We can only imagine that his mother's influence has been brought to bear here and that he's abandoned the old, royal, 'stiff-upper lip' and 'buttoned up feelings' of previous generations.

But it's also good to see how much he respects her:  how much he appreciates her own learning curve of the last 50 years and is willing to listen to the wisdom she's aquired as a result.

Nice heart-warming family story demonstrating the real value of grandparents!

The report from the Office of National Statistics and Southampton University that suggests more and more middle-aged people now live alone hardly comes as a surprise.  With so many divorces and separations in recent years, it's inevitable that many people will spend large chunks of their lives single, and needing a home of their own.

It strikes me that this age group – from 45 – 64 – is undergoing a similar upheavel to that imposed on today's young.  They have to face the uncertainty over whether they'll get jobs, and how long they'll keep them if they do; and many of them accept that they may not have a career  for life but will have to retrain and switch jobs in order to stay employed.

And for the middle-aged, it seems we'll have to accept that we may not keep our homes or our relationships for life, that we too are living on shifting sands, and that we'll have to learn to embrace change and accept a more fluid life than has been the case recently.

This may not be an entirely bad thing;  just think how our parents and grandparents had fluidity imposed on them through two world wars.  And they emerged strong and resilient.  I'm sure we'll do the same.

This is an alarming story from the  Daily Mail about children as young as eight already trained up as 'cage-fighters' and taking part in competitive events, surrounded by and even supported by, their parents.

 The idea of the sport is, apparently, to wrestle the opponent into submission – and they inevitably get hurt along the way, as illustrated by the eight-year old in tears.

We just can't help wondering what kind of parent allows – let alone encourages-  a child to take up this kind of sport.  Most 7/8 year olds probably wouldn't come up with the idea themselves.  Parents are enormously powerful and influential at that stage, so we can't help thinking that they might just have sewn the seed of the idea in their childrren's minds.  And how sick is that?

We feel the same about any activity that parents foist upon their young.  Choir schools, for instance, have always been an area of concern  because it seems obvious that no 7 year-old is going to choose such a rigid regime without coercion from somewhere.

We visited a choir school with our son when he was 6 and had a  beautiful singing voice. It quickly became apparent that it was a tough regime, starting with very early starts every day in order to fit choir practice in before lessons.  Then there was the requisite attendance at every Sunday service, plus the fact that every Christmas and Easter break would be given over to church services….it seemed pretty obvious that a 7 year-old wouldn't choose this for himself – and we didn't like it either so we quickly ditched that idea.

But ever since, it's left me ruminating on the fact that there are parents who convince themselves that their children will be happy following the paths they choose for them.  But to deny a child its own freedom of will, and any choice in how their life proceeds seems cruel in the extreme to me. 

Which is why I'd like to know how and when these small boys first decided it might be a good idea to train up as cage-fighters.  I doubt they suddenly , and spontaneously, came up with the idea all by themselves.

The news from Sarah Teather at yesterday's Lib Dem conference that parenting classes are to be offered – free – to all parents of under-fives, seems a bit far-fetched to us.  Obviously, it's a welcome idea in principle but we can't help feeling it may be just another of those announcements that fails to materialise in any action.

Targeted action that really works would seem a far better idea, such as the Family Nurse project in Nottingham which seems to be achieving real results.

It indicates that the Lib Dems' hearts are in the right place – but we'd feel happier if they'd put more effort where it's really needed.

Therre's been a lot of chatter on Twitter recently about parents suffering from the Empty Nest syndrome – with children off to University this week.

But those of us who've already been through that stage, know that this is absolutely not the start of the empty nest stage.

Indeed, if our own experience is anything to go by, once the children leave for uni, the home soon becomes busier – and fuller!

Chatting to other grandparents, it seems we all agree that our homes become a much sought-after haven for university students; they soon miss their home comforts and simply love to return, along with hoardes of friends.

Our kitchen table was never fuller than during the university years.  Various offspring would arrive with their new friends for chill-out weekends, and in the holidays, their social lives seemed to involve moving from one friend's house to another, seeing different parts of the country along the way.

So our bedrooms were usually bursting at the seams and our kitchen became the hub of their lives with lots of lovely experimental cooking taking place around the cooker – them for us, or me for them.

We had one girlfriend live with us for 3 months while various others stayed a week or two while they carried out work placements nearby.

So there's no need to think that Uni marks the beginning of the Empty Nest stage – think of it as quite the reverse, in fact, the beginning of an exciting new phase in your lives as you get to meet all your kids' new friends.

And don't, whatever you do, think this is the time to reclaim their bedrooms and turn them into guest rooms!

We've known young people whose parents have done this, and it broke their hearts! They felt they didn't have a real place at home any more, and began to feel like visitors in their parents' homes.  That's a sure means of driving them away – so keep their bedrooms just as they always have been and you'll be rewarded to see them boomerang back!