The tendency to identify with one's grandparents is based on the fantasy of the reversal of generations. Such identifications may lead to detrimental and even grotesque character traits in the child, and appear more often with a grandmother than with a grandfather. The syndrome develops to its full intensity if the grandparent lives in the same household with the children and grandchildren. Then the grandparent is invested with the prerogatives of the parent, while the parent is relegated to the position of an older sibling. Clinical examples are adduced.