Beyond birthday cards and hugs: The rise of intensive grandparenting

On Sunday evenings or in the wee hours of Monday morning, Judy Dion hops in her car and drives 78 miles to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where her daughter and son-in-law live with their five-month old – Ms. Dion’s first grandchild. She watches her grandson for two days before heading back home to her part-time job and volunteer work on Cape Cod.

The parents were “talking about nannies, and it was going to be very expensive,” says Ms. Dion. “I said, ‘You know, my grandmother lived