What does Labor Day mean to our families?

Friday's Grand Connection Fun
 by Mary May Larmoyeux

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On Monday we will celebrate Labor Day in the U.S. It became a federal holiday in 1894 to honor the achievements of American workers. Now's a good time to honor the hard work of those in our own families.

Have you ever talked with your grandchildren about the type of work that you and their great grandparents did? If you are still working, have you taken them to your office? I remember taking some of our grands to my office. They were thrilled to see their pictures on my desk and their artwork hanging above it.

But I don't think that I've ever talked with our grands about the type of work that their great grandparents and great great grandparents did. That discussion is definitely overdue! And now would be a good time for Pops and me to talk with the grands about the hard work that it takes to run a household and to teach values to the next generation.

If you'd like to know a little more about the history of Labor Day, you might want to check out these links:  History.com ; Why do we celebrate Labor Day?

How do you suggest that we teach our grandchildren about Labor Day?

Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings.    

(Proverbs 22:29a)

Have a great weekend,
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2012 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © by Designpicsub / Dreamstime.com

The stresses of school

Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

A friend of mine has a little girl who began kindergarten this year. The night before the five year old started school, she asked her mom, "How will I know where the bathroom is? And where is the restaurant in the cafeteria?"

At first her questions brought a smile to my face, but then they reminded me of how stressful the beginning of school can be for children. Some may wonder where the bathroom and "restaurant" are, while others may struggle with deeper questions such as "Will I make a good friend this year?" or "How can I keep my school work organized while living with mom part of the week and with dad the other part of the week?"

Our grandkids always need the assurance of our love, and they also need our prayers. And Psalm 65:2 says: God answers prayer.

What tips do you have about praying for our school-age grandkids?

Have a great week,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2012 Mary Mary Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Steven Pepple/Agency: Dreamstime.com.

Game Time

Friday's Grand Connection Fun
 by Mary May Larmoyeux

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I just returned home after a week of grandsitting. The kids and I had a great time together!

Every evening we played some sort of game: Connect-Four, Guess Who, catch, etc. I had forgotten how to play Checkers, and our six-year-old grandson proudly taught me how to do this.

Old Maid was one of our favorite games. I loved hearing my three-year-old granddaughter cry out "match" in a tone of great satisfaction. It had been a longggg time since I had played Old Maid and I even enjoyed it.

After spending time with the grands, I was reminded of how important it is to just play with them. Nothing could be simpler than tossing a plastic ball to one another or playing a card game. But somehow through laughs and words, hearts are drawn closer together.

Speaking of games, Family Fun has a section on its website with coloring pages, crafts, games and puzzles, and more. I just printed off some "Hidden Picture" and "Find the Difference" pages for the grandkids. They will be great to have at the house for the local grands and to mail to those who live out-of-town.

Of course, older grandchildren love games, too. Monopoly and Scrabble seem to be ageless favorites. And today there are countless online games.

What are your favorite games to play with your grands? Has your grandchild ever taught you how to play a game?

Have a great weekend,
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2010 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

Trouble in Dogville

Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

When I was grandsitting for several days recently, God reminded me and a granddaughter about how much He cares about us. We were at the grocery store, and my granddauhter had picked up a bag of rawhide dog bones.

As she was dropping them into the basket, a lady who worked for the store said that we couldn't buy them. I was really surprised by that until she explained the reason.

There had been a recall on the type of rawhide bones that we were about to purchase. If we had gotten them, the kids' dog would have likely gotten very sick.

"Thank you, Lord," I said to myself, and then talked with my granddaughter about how good God was to protect her pet. I was so grateful that I had not bought the tainted bones! Actually, I'm not so sure I was up grandsitting a sick dog and three sad children.

Psalm 32:7 says, "You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."

How have you seen God's hand of protection in action?
He is able,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

Photo and article © Mary Mary Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

School Days: Let's stay connected

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Friday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

Maybe you're like me and keeping up with some long-distance grands by Facebook. I was thrilled to read that our grandkids who are now in the first and second grades have wonderful teachers and that they are really excited about going back to school.

Or, maybe you are again like me and have some nearby grands who will be starting school soon. We have one who will start kindergarten next week. She told us all about it last weekend.

Here are a few ideas for connecting with our school-aged grandchildren:

• Mail or e-mail them a note in the next few days and to let them know that we are praying for them as they go to school. We could tell them what it was like when we started school and maybe even send them one of our childhood pictures (when we were their age).

• Send them some bookmarks—either store-bought or homemade. We could print a favorite picture with our grand on one side of cardstock, type a Bible verse on the other side, hole-punch it, string some ribbon through the hole—and, presto—a bookmark.

        o Family Fun has an inch-worm bookmark that is made out of ribbon.

        o E-How explains how to make Memory Bookmarks.

• Give them a special piece of jewelry to let them know we will be thinking of them.

• Give them a paperback Bible to bring to school in their book bag for free-time reading.

• Regularly check out the websites of our grandchildren's' school. That will help us be "in the know."

What ideas to you have that can help us stay connected to our school-aged grandkids?

Have a great weekend,
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux

The Grand Connection

© by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

Photo © Ilya Genkin / Dreamstime.com

No Guarantees

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Tuesday's  Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

One of my favorite books is Let’s Make a Memory by Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson. I love what Gloria says, "Special moments don’t just happen; they have to be planned on purpose! In this hectic world when the pace at which we all live is so frantic, we as families must make a covenant with each other to make time for simple things. … We have no guarantees of tomorrows, but we do have this moment."

As grandmothers, we are aware that there are no guarantees of tomorrow and know how quickly the grands will grow up. Are you like me and really enjoy the simple things with your grands—walking in the rain, picking flowers, looking into the clouds together—marveling at the great God who created everything?

How do you make the moments count with your grandkids?

Speaking of making moments count, thanks to those of you who leave comments on The Grand Connection! Here are some of your great ideas: 

Elaine shared how she wrote a prayer for each grandchild and sent the prayers to the adult children to pray for each particular child. She also said that on one of her granddaughter’s birthdays, she and husband made a list of "10 Reasons we appreciate Kelli." Elaine added, "She was thrilled. We put it on poster board and then laminated it."

Did you read Angie’s comment when she said, "The Bible says that children are a gift from God. I agree, but I think grandchildren are the ribbons and bows on the gift!" I just love that word picture!

Couldn’t you almost hear Laurie laugh when she wrote that her grands call her "Grandma Doggie." Yep, you guessed it—she's the grandmother with three dogs.

And Jean surely had a smile on her face when she shared in an e-mail that every time her grandkids come over they cook something. "They marveled over things made from 'scratch.' They never knew all things didn’t originate from a box or can," she says. "I hope they will remember the fun times as long as I will."

She later wrote that her daughter told her that she baked from scratch for the girls often. "Kids have short memories," Jean said, "and they [the grands] said, 'Oh, yeah, we forgot.'"

Have a great week,

Mary

http://www.marymaywrites.com/

http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2009 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

Photo © Geoarts / Dreamstime.com

Fun with Paper Dolls and Flannel Boards

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Friday's Grand Connection Funby Mary May Larmoyeux

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite things to do was play with paper dolls at my grandmother’s house. She would roll out big sheets of brown paper and encourage me to design a special house for the dolls.

My Nana would give me a Sears Catalog and a pair of scissors. I would cut out furniture and decorations for the paper house, and would glue the items in place on the brown paper. I remember this as being so much fun!

Today, you can buy paper dolls at specialty toy stores or print off online patterns. If you google “paper dolls” you’ll be amazed at all of the available links such as Design Your Own Paper Dolls.

Even though they don’t print the huge Sears Catalog anymore, the Sunday papers are filled with furniture store inserts that could be transformed into a child’s imaginary house on large sheets of white or brown paper or cardboard.

You may want to make or purchase a felt kit for your grand. The variety of flannel kits today is endless: dollhouse flannel board scenes, flannel board dolls, and kits such as “Trucks, and Trains, and Planes."

If you have older grandchildren, help them show younger brothers and sisters (or younger neighbors, cousins, etc.) how to make a paper doll house or play with a felt kit.

Did you ever play with paper dolls or make them for your grandkids? Have you played with a grad using a flannel board kit?

He is able
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux
www.marymaywrites.com


© Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.

Helping Grandkids Think of Others

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Tuesday's  Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

It's such fun to connect with other grandmothers, like Sharon Bubbe, through The Grand Connection!

Bubbe is passionate about grandparents helping their grandchildren think beyond themselves. She writes a monthly e-newsletter called Grandparents for Social Action , and one of the ideas that she shared in her August 2010 newsletter was to have a philanthropy club meeting three or four times a year with the grandkids. (This could be done over the phone or in person.) Bubbe's idea is to help grandchildren become life-long philanthropists. I like that!

Being a life-long philanthropist reminds me of Proverbs 19:16, "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done."

There are many things that we can do with our grandkids to help those in need such as: serve in a soup kitchen, clean an elderly person's home or cut their lawn, prepare a meal for someone who is not well, visit a nursing home, etc. As Christmas approaches we may want to consider sponsoring a child through Angel Tree or Salvation Army, and shopping for that child with our legacy.

Finally, I once read about a couple that enlisted their kids' help in choosing which charitable organizations to contribute funds to. They sat down as a family, considered the work of various charities and then decided as a family which ones they would support. We grandparents could do something similar. We could set aside a specific amount of money and enlist our grandkids' help in deciding which charity to donate it to.

In this world of "it's all about me," how do you help your grandchild think of others?

Have a great week,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/
http://grandconnection.blogspot.com/

© 2010 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo Credit: © Waxart /Dreamstime.com

Make school bookmarks

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Friday's Grand Connection Fun
by Mary May Larmoyeux

Now is a great time for us to make some special bookmarks for the school-age grands. If they live nearby, we could have fun making them together.

For long-distance grandparenting, we could make the bookmarks ourselves and mail them … or send materials to the grandkids so they can personalize their own bookmarks.

It's easy to make a bookmark. Just:

1) Cut card stock into bookmark size (approximately 1 ½” by 5).
2) Decorate the paper with sketches, pictures, Bible verses, stickers, etc.
3) Cover with clear contact paper or have the bookmarks laminated at a teacher-supply store.
4) Punch a hole in the top and loop a ribbon or tassel through it.

That's all there is to it.

I googled "making bookmarks" and found a great website:  How to Make a Bookmark. It has some very creative ideas! If you scroll down you'll find a video "How to Make Braded Bookmarks."

          "Let the wise listen and add to their learning, 
                  and let the discerning get guidance."
                                                                —Proverbs 1:5

Have fun,
Mary
www.marymaywrites.com

© 2012 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Steven Pepple/Agency: Dreamstime.com.