This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Like many of us, I always enjoy the John Lewis Christmas ad and 2026 is no different. This year, I love the fact that the star of the show is a grandmother.
Feeling disconnected from her visiting grandchildren and ready to resort to cash in envelopes for Christmas, Gloria (Kristin Scott Thomas) is scolded by her childhood toy dog Pickles, who comes to life and whisks her on a whirlwind London tuk-tuk ride. Inspired, Gloria transforms her home office into a glittering, disco-lit "grandma cave," bridging the generation gap by sharing her sense of wonder with her grandchildren. We can't all have grandmothers as chic as Gloria, but many of us were lucky enough to have grandmas who loved us just as much—and we probably took them as much for granted.
I suspect many grandmas feel like an old-fashioned back boiler, half-invisible in the background, but warming the family without anyone noticing. Sociologists often refer to this as "kinkeeping": the often unacknowledged emotional and practical groundwork that holds intergenerational families together, but is all too easily taken for granted. Those grandparents lucky enough to see their grandchildren on a regular basis, and who get to be involved socially and emotionally in their lives, feel less lonely and tend to live healthier lives.
Sadly, though, many feel devalued by the younger generation. Grandma's alliance with Pickles helps her to rediscover the real Gloria. The person who can lean her head back into the headrest of a fantasy shocking-pink super-chariot, and feel the wind in her hair as it whizzes her through the streets lit with Christmas lights.
The Gloria that is silly enough to spend her Christmas savings on glittery spangles. The Gloria that hasn't forgotten how to dance. This is the grandma that the children love.
This year's John Lewis ad is a reminder that families are not just made up of mom, dad and 2.4 children. Humans are different from many of our ape cousins. We are "cooperative breeders." This means we tend to have children in quick succession and, because human babies are unusually dependent compared to other baby apes, parents need help from other adults.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
