At Grandma's Place

C.S.Lewis once commented, "Though I get no more tired now than I did when I was younger, I take much longer to get un-tired afterwards." I can relate. Today, I am struggling with the 'getting un-tired' part. My grandsons stayed longer with me this week. I care for them a couple of days each week while their parents work. Business commitments and other factors this week meant that their parents worked later hours. So, they stayed with me until after dinner. And that was fine... they are only little, although energetic bundles of fun. But by early evening, they were tired, and so was I, and I was running out of quieter activities to keep them occupied. So, just for a bit of added interest, I quickly downloaded the app, 'Nighty Night'. I'd seen it reviewed a number of times and it seemed to gather a lot of positive comments. The cost of $3.99 was less expensive than a regular picture storybook, too. I should say, first of all, that the graphic...

Make your life a little easier.... I really thought that, by the time I became a grandma, my life would be slow, relaxed, maybe a little mundane but certainly tranquil. I had certainly created sweet, though fictional, cameos in the recesses of my mind: of curling up in a cozy little nook to read for hours, cooking fragrant cupcakes and biscuits in my well-designed kitchen and preparing for the occasional visits from grandchildren, pottering around for hours in picturesque craft and novelty shops as I searched for unique and enthralling gifts and crafts.  Ha! Little did I know that this part of my life would become, arguably, my busiest! The role of today's grandparents has changed considerably. Certainly, the only time I manage any reading opportunities is on my iPad. Sometimes I'm able to listen to an audio that I've downloaded from audible.com while driving to one or other of my grown children's homes or their planned events. And yes, I do take time to cook.....

Have you ever watched the look of intense concentration on the face of a child as they draw, paint or create a masterpiece of art? I often wonder what thoughts are going on behind that intensity. Yes, art is fun. Yes, young children enjoy getting messy with paint and feeling the textures of different media. I love watching them concentrate on a new paint texture and try out ways of using it or changing it. But it's so much more than just 'fun' for a child's education and development. Studies show that, through art, children learn to think creatively, to observe, describe, analyse and interpret. They learn to express feelings with and without words. They practice problem-solving skills, critical thinking,  and develop related language and vocabulary. It also develops confidence. So.. as a grandmother, I encourage my grandchildren to explore art and to create. It's a real thrill when one of them rushes up to say, "This is for you, Nan. I made it '...

Grandparents of today are a different breed. Gone is the image of the little old grandma seated in a rocking chair on the front porch quietly knitting and watching the world go by. I was reading some interesting statistics about today's grandparents. 75% of those who are grandparents are online. 70% will use search engines to locate information. 63% regularly make purchases online. 46% bank online. 45% are on social media. The information didn't actually list any details about iPad usage but I've read elsewhere that 45% have downloaded 10 or more apps in a year. I know that my iPad is an integral part of my life. I'm rarely without it and it's not just to provide apps to entertain the grandkids, though I have different apps for the different ages of my grandchildren. So, I was questioning just what apps are worthwhile for grandparents today, for the Baby Boomers. The difficulty of course is that there are so many. For almost every situation you can imagi...

I opened the car door and my grandson looked up, kicked his feet excitedly and reached out for me. It's wonderful to be given the opportunity to fill a part of my grandchildren's lives. It's wonderful when they wrap their arms around your neck, put their face against your cheek and give you a big hug. Since I care for them regularly, I like to be prepared and organised when they arrive. As much as possible, I stick with their normal routine and I like to let their parents know how we filled the day, what exciting discoveries they made and the funny things they said or did. On a practical note, I like to make sure that I'm clear about nap times, feeding times and any other individual requirements. I think that it's reassuring to be able to report back about these essentials, too.  So, I've designed a printable sheet that I can fill in with some of these details so that everyone is on the same page and nothing is overlooked in the care of these precious li...

I love to read books with my grand-kids and yes, it often means reading the same book again and again. I've lost count of the number of times I've read 'Where is the Green Sheep?' or 'Blossom Possum'. What books do you love to read aloud? Which books are you always asked to read again and again? Over and again, studies highlight the benefits of reading to your kids.For example, a study was made in Rhode Island Hospital to compare two groups of eight months old – one group was read to often as babies, while the other was not.  It was shown that those who were read to have their “receptive” vocabularies (number of words they understand) increased 40 per cent since babyhood, while the non-reading group increased by only 16 per cent.  Kimdoma is an app that enables you to read aloud with your grandchildren any night of the week, whether they live next door or kilometres away. The app combines e-books with video calls which means that you can share the book o...