To text or not to text ... that is the question

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

Do you have trouble keeping up with today's technology? I sure to. I got on Facebook to communicate with my kids. But now there's texting and tweeting, and ....

I can't help but think of many years ago when e-mail first came out. My mother was not interested in it—period. There was no sense trying to convince her that she'd love e-mailing back and forth with her children and grandchildren. Snail mail was her preferred method of communication.

Now, I confess that I just learned how to text ... not that I really wanted to. Then why did I do it? Because my grown children wanted me to and I finally gave in. 

But how can we keep up with technology, or should we even try to do this? What do you think?

If you want a laugh, check out this You Tube video that unsuspecting grandparents took of themselves. I laughed out loud when I watched it! Their granddaughter uploaded it to You Tube and it now has millions of viewers!  Enjoy!

Have a great week,

Mary
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart
http://www.marymaywrites.com/

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

One on one with the grandkids

Friday's Grand Connection Fun

by Mary May Larmoyeux

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A grandmother once told me that she likes to spend one-on-one time with each of her grandchildren. Now that Pops and I have six grandchildren, I understand the wisdom of her words. Although it's great fun when all of the grandkids are at our house together, there's little time to spend individually with each child.

So, today Pops and I are beginning a new tradition: a one-on-one weekend with each grandchild. Our 5-year-old granddaughter will be our first special guest. She's said that she wants to learn how to draw a zebra or a giraffe, so a friend will give her an individual art lesson. Then the 5-year-old and I will go to the park and later come to Pops' and my house to play some board games.

Our grand told me that she wants to play with "Mr. Potato Head," so she'll definitely do that. She'll make funny faces on the same brown plastic "potato" that her daddy played with many years ago. (My, where do the years go?) We might bake a batch of cookies or take the dogs for a walk. And tomorrow Pops and his little legacy will go out for breakfast—just the two of them.

I just hope that this will begin a long tradition of making special memories with each grandchild!

Do you have any ideas about how Pops and I can make this weekend memorable for our granddaughter? Have you had one-on-one time with your grandchildren?

Future generations will be told about the Lord.  (Psalm 22:30b)

Have a great weekend,
Mary
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart
www.marymaywrites.com/


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

Fun with Newspapers and Magazines

Friday's Grand Connection Fun

by Mary May Larmoyeux

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I was looking at some online articles and read one by Doris Schuchard in the Home Education Magazine that had some great ideas. If you’d like to provide hours of fun for the grands with newspapers and magazines, read on as I’ll share a couple of Doris’ ideas:

ABCs—Give each child a page from a newspaper or magazine. Assign them an alphabet letter and see how many words they can circle starting with that letter within a minute. Variation: Can you find a word for each letter of the alphabet?

Pops and I can use this idea with our grands who are just 3 and 4. Although they really don’t know how to spell, they could circle individual letters or highlight each letter of the alphabet.

Okay, here’s one more of Doris’ ideas:

End It – Give your child a short newspaper or magazine story, but cut off the ending. Have her write her own ending and then compare it to the real one. Variations: Give her endings from three different stories; can she choose the correct one? 2. Match headlines with the correct stories.

Although our small grandkids won’t be able to write endings to articles and stories, Pops or I could read them an article about something that would interest them (such as a story about an animal) and let them tell us the ending.

I don’t know about you, but I need to get a few newspapers and magazines out of the recycling bin—for the grandkids.

Have a great weekend
Mary
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart
http://www.marymaywrites.com/

Article 2008 © Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Oleg Pidodnya / Dreamstime.com

I heard it in the beauty salon

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

"I hope that I look as good as she does," said the woman sitting next to me in the beauty salon. "She taught me in the first grade. I'm 77 and she'll soon be 100."

I glanced at the elderly lady with small rollers in her hair; it was hard to believe that she had lived for almost a century. No wonder her face was lined with wrinkles marking decades of life. She looked like one who had grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and even great-great grandchildren.

"She amazing," the woman waiting for the stylist said. "Nothing rattles her."

Have you ever noticed that age does not really change the character of most people? The love and patience and kindness (or lack of) that we practice today ... and then tomorrow ... form who we will be decades from now.

"She still has that quiet confidence," her former student said. 

Yes, the elderly woman was still teaching ... still showing other generations how to succeed in this thing called life.

Have a great week,

Mary

Mary May Larmoyeux

The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart

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

Saying goodbye is not easy

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Tuesday's Grand Connection Thought

by Mary May Larmoyeux

It's hard to believe that another Christmas has come and gone and a new year has begun.  After spending time connecting with family, many grandparents find themselves, once again, separated by the miles.

A friend describes below how hard it was for his son to part from his grandmother as she prepared to board a plane:

When it was time to go our separate ways, our son began to quietly cry very sincere tears, begging to continue on with his grandma, asking “Why does she have to leave?” It broke our hearts! I really don’t know how Mom endured it. It had to have been brutal for her. We finally persuaded him that it was necessary to part, and began the journey to our separate gates. At this point he twisted the knife already firmly planted in her heart by walking backwards for the entire length of the airport (in what must be the LONGEST airport hallway in the country), waving to her until she was completely out of sight, sniffling softly the entire time. A classic memory indeed!

My guess is that this little boy was not the only one crying.

Although we are fortunate to be living in an age of cell phones and e-mail, it's still hard to say goodbye to grandchildren who live across the miles! Have you experienced this yourself?

Have a great week,

Mary

Mary May Larmoyeux

The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart

© 2011 by Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
Photo © Glenn Mcgloughlin / Dreamstime.com