National Children’s Memorial Day is today, December 13th, 2009.

National Children’s Memorial Day takes place each year on the second Sunday of December. It is observed internationally to honor the 80,000 children who die each year. Families around the world light candles at 7:00 p.m. in their local time zones. As candles burn down in one time zone, they are lighted in the next, creating a 24-hour wave of light that encircles the globe. This remembrance ceremony provides the world with lit candles for an entire 24 hour period in order to honor the children we have lost, the children who lived and died, and who, even in death, continue to live in our hearts.

Join us for this world-wide candlelighting memorial.

Peace -Emily

See Emily Wilberg’s previous article: Grieving the Loss of a Grandchild.

Please fill free to comment below, and to share this post with someone you love.

I was completely out of the mold when I made my mother a grandmother when she was only 39 years old. Most people in my graduating class were college bound and weren’t thinking of starting a family, but I was ready to be a wife-and-a-mother (one word). For some reason, I had the goal of being a teenage mom. I met that goal when I gave birth to my son only three weeks before I turned twenty. But, Mom never complained about being made into a granny. Like me, she was glad to have a little one around again.

These days, it seems like couples aren’t waiting as long before starting a family as they once did. It has become the norm for folks to become grandparents in their early forties. I became a grandmother when I was only 40 years old. That’s when my son and his wife gave me the blessing of Sidney.

When a child is born, so are grandmothers. ~Judith Levy

Sidney has been a joy since day one. He began staying overnight at my house as soon as he was weaned. We have enjoyed many outings together. We’ve gone to the circus, the museum, the holistic fair, flea markets, shopping malls, restaurants, and the zoo. We’ve seen Dora the Explorer twice at Tennessee Performing Arts Center, visited several parks and playgrounds, gone canoeing, watched lots of movies, taken out-of-state road trips, and made our annual summer trip to Nashville Shores water park. I have step-grandchildren that I also enjoy spending time with, but since they live in another state eight hours away, I don’t get to color and do arts and crafts with them as often as I’d like.

Being a grandparent at an early age gives me a chance to be kid again while I can still fit in the park swings, climb the rope feature, and fly down the sliding board without throwing up. My grandkids keep me young. That’s why I was so excited to find out that I was getting a new shipment from the stork in 2009. This year I’ve been blessed with four new grandsons: Lochlan in April, Liam in June, Jonas in July, and Payton in October. My kids never have to ask twice or worry that I’m too busy to keep their babies when they need a break. I’m glad to steal all those hugs and kisses and I don’t even mind changing a dirty diaper or getting in the floor to be on their level. I had my husband get the baby equipment down from the attic so I could set up a crib in the spare bedroom. Every time I go shopping, I look for new baby stuff.

With Sidney being my first biological grandson and the only grandchild near me for many years, I have to admit I’ve been a tad biased toward him. I wrote a series of stories for him starting when he was three years old. In them, I related some of the things we did together and mentioned the insight he has brought me. Now that Sid is almost nine years old, he helps me write the stories. I finally published our book titled The Sid Series ~ A Collection of Holistic Stories for Children. It’s available at TheSidSeries.com. Come on by and take a look inside the book—a feature provided by freado.com.

That’s another thing about being a young grandparent, I’m in touch with the latest technology and have most of the gadgets that the younger generation plays with—except for a Playstation, Game Cube, or Guitar Hero—much to Sid’s disappointment. My mom has video games at her house. I have two computers at my house and Sidney has his own folder on my PC, complete with his bookmarked and favorite Web sites.

Sidney is so grown now, that I was able to interview him on my podcast to talk about The Sid Series. How’s that for technology and young age grandparenting?

- Yvonne Perry

If you like this post, please share it here…

I’ll show you how to create your own fun video of your grandkids—as jolly little elves! It’s easier than you might think. They are free to use and free share with your family and friends.

“Snowball fight!” created with JibJab.com

Click on the little Play triangle below.

Try JibJab.comSendables® eCards today!

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. ~Kahlil Gibran

I enjoy discovering innovative websites. I surf the Net with my “Grandparent eyeglasses” on, looking for fascinating, easy-to-use places where I can produce fun creations for my grandchildren. I ask myself, “How can this website be useful to me and other grandparents?” (What’s in it for me?) These websites spark my imagination, and I think how exciting it would be to design something for my grandkids to enjoy.

There are many really cool websites on the Internet you can use to connect with your grandkids by creating entertaining projects for them. I wrote about some of these in December’s Cyber-Savvy GRAND column in GRAND Magazine. Sites to develop projects from your digital photos, like Scrapblog and SmileBox. Sites for photo sharing, like Picasa, Kodak Gallery, SnapFish and ShutterFly. (Read our Picasa review here.)

Dancing Coo Coo Clock elves created with ElfYourself.com

Let’s look at two websites where you can create videos starring your grandchildren: JibJab.comand ElfYourself.com.

I created the two videos above at JibJab.com and ElfYourself.com. The ElfYourself site is powered by JibJab’s innovative software. They employ the latest technologies such as face recognition.

ElfYourself from OfficeMax is a whimsical online program that allows you to create videos of elves dancing—with your grandchildren as the stars of the show. Simply upload  the photos you want to use, adjust the face to fit (size, outline, and rotation), choose a ready-to-use dance, and click the button. It quickly produces your video. You can post it on your blog or family site, and email the link for free. If you like, you can download the movie for $4.99. (Note: ElfYourself is only available during the holiday season.)

JibJab has a variety of ready-to-make videos, pictures and ecards. Some are free. Some require a $12.00 annual membership. Downloads are $4.99, or only $1.99 with a membership. The steps to build a video at JibJab.com are similar to the way described above. You upload photos to create “heads” (faces). You choose the video, movie, or picture to make. Try a JibJab Risk FREE Trial!

JibJab’s Photo-Maker lets you create fun still pictures like this one.

At ElfYourself.com and JibJab.comyou can also purchase other products like mugs, ornaments, greeting cards, etc — all with your picture on them.

So go make some videos of yourself or your grandkids. Give a video or picture to them as a merry little gift. They will enjoy seeing it over and over again. It’s sure to have the whole family giggling with delight.

In future posts, GrandparentsTLC will review more websites to create fun stuff for your grandchildren.

Enjoy! – Grandpa Shayne

Have you used JibJab or ElfYourself or another cool online program? How has it enabled you to connect with your family and grandkids? Please share your comments. We enjoy reading about your experiences.

If you like this post, please click the Share button or email it to your friends!
Also, please subscribe to our blog to get future articles delivered to you for free.

[October has been designated as "Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month", with October 15 as "Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day".]

When my son Gabriel was stillborn at 21 weeks we were blindsided. I had no idea that in this age of modern medicine and in a country as prosperous as the United States that babies still died. I thought it was something that only happened in third world counties, or maybe back in the pioneer days. And yet, it does happen. When a baby dies it is hard on the entire family — but I can imagine it is uniquely hard for a grandparent. Not only are you, yourself grieving the loss of your grandbaby, but your own child is hurting as well. What do you do? What CAN you do?

Often people do nothing. It used to be that when a baby died (either before or shortly after birth), the mother was not allowed to hold or see her child. She was told to forget and to try again as soon as possible. Things have changed. It has been discovered that it is better for the healing process if the mom is able to see her baby if possible; for the parents to hold and dress and photograph and name their child. If the baby was lost earlier in the pregnancy the parents may not be able to do even this. But the moment a mom finds out she is expecting she starts making plans for, and loving, her child. A loss at any stage is devastating. To be told to forget and move on can be hurtful; no matter how well intentioned the advice is.

There are support groups to help a family facing this trial. But even though this outside help is important, I often hear that families do not feel supported by those closest to them: their own family members. Part of this is due to differences in how our generations have been told to grieve. Part of it is probably due to the fact that family members are grieving themselves. And part of it, maybe, is that it is just too sad. Too sad to think about and too sad to talk about and certainly too sad to make a particular point to remember. And yet, that is often exactly what grieving parents need, people to remember.

You need to do what is best for you while grieving your grandchild. Nobody grieves the same and there is no straight path for healing from this loss. But it is also important to reach out to your child.

How can you help your child who has lost a baby?

Listen. Let us talk. Let us cry. Ask to hear our baby’s story and ask what we named our child. Refer to them by name. Our child’s name is precious to us; we treasure an engraved ornament or even something as simple as writing our baby’s name in a card to let us know you are thinking about us both.

Holidays can be particularly hard. Understand if the parents may not be up to big family celebrations at this time. If you do have a family dinner, a possible tradition to start is to have a toast to remember all missing family members not at the table with you. You can also make a donation to a worthy cause or do a service project in your grandchild’s name.

Technology can help families pull together in times of trial — there are many ways. Send emails often. Take advantage of inexpensive long distance to call frequently — with mobile phones, or iChat, or Internet phones such as Skype and Vonage. Use reminder services for special occasions like the ones available at flowers.com and electronic greeting cards.

The Internet brings our world closer together and makes multiple resources available that may not be available in your immediate community. There are many online resources and support groups for families grieving the loss of a child. There are even specific sites for grieving grandparents. I have listed a few helpful sites below.

Aloha Sand Photos is a recent project I have started with my sister is to take a photo of a child’s name written in the sand and post a photo of it on our blog. I am in Maryland and she is in Hawaii, and the names come from all over the world. One grateful parent recently sent me an email stating, “I love technology. I can simply do this… and photos can come across the world from Hawaii. I am grateful. It has brought me into a very sorrowful yet hopeful club of parents with children who grew wings far too early.”

God sends children to enlarge our hearts, and make us unselfish and full of kindly sympathies and affections. ~Mary Howitt

Thank you to Grandpa Shayne for letting me write this guest post on his blog. I am sorry this topic is needed at all, and yet, I am thankful to be allowed to share my experience it in the hopes it will bring comfort to someone else. I hope today is gentle for you.

Peace -Emily (Gabriel’s mom)

Online Resources

• Aloha Remembered Blog: Have your grandchild’s name written in the sand and a photo posted on their blog.
• Stepping Stones: a path to healing after the loss of a child is a good general blog for finding helpful information.
• Stepping Stones article: Common Signs of Grief
• Grieving Grandparents Bereavement Support Article
• Grandparent Grief pamphlet from the SIDS network
• The Grief of Grandparents article by Compassionate Friends
• Helping a Grandparent Who Is Grieving Article by Alan D. Wolfelt, PH.D
• Healing Hearts: Support for Grieving Grandparents Email Penpals
• Remembering Our Angels: Gifts and ribbons for purchase.

Do you have any thoughts or ideas about helping grandparents and parents heal after the loss of a child? We welcome your comments.

Please share this post with someone you love.

Are you worried that your grandkids may accidently see something online that would be harmful to them?

Have you set up a safe environment for your grandchildren?

There are two concerns here. 1. Protecting your computer: keeping your hardware, software, files, documents, and bookmarks secure. 2. Protecting your grandkids: creating a safe environment for them that prevents them from accessing inappropriate content on Internet websites.

So let’s discuss some of these potential problems here in part one of this article. Then in part two, we will outline a plan — what you can do to protect your computer and your grandchildren, and alleviate your concerns.

Do you realize if it weren’t for Edison we’d be watching TV by candlelight?  ~Al Boliska

The Internet is a wonderful place for children to explore — lot’s of interesting sites, interactive games and activities, educational resources, etc. But like the real world, there are places on the Internet that are inappropriate for children. You’ve probably heard and thought about potential dangers for kids online. So, when your grandchildren come to visit, your computer needs to be safe. How do we help our grandkids get the most of this virtual cyberspace, while keeping them safe in it?

Over the years, I have personally used various techniques for protecting my computers and my children, and now my grandchildren. Since threats change with new technologies and modern computers, I have had to stay on top of the solutions. But the basic problems are always the same: bad people trying to do bad things to me and my family and to my computers. The basic solutions remain the same also: keep ahead of the bad guys. Install a shield between you and your computers, and the bad guys.

Now, I’m not trying to be paranoid. It’s like locking your front door at night. You don’t have to obsess over all the potential evil out there. You just lock it to be safe, and you don’t worry about it.

Throughout history, parents and grandparents have been concerned for the safety of their children and teenagers. It seems even more challenging the ever with new types of media and gadgets — radio, TV, music, computers, the Internet, mobile phones, iPods, iPhone…. But we can’t follow children everywhere, holding an umbrella over their heads. We need to teach them how to avoid the dangers in the world.

There are certain activities on the Internet that some adults participate in that are not appropriate for children, and other areas that are suitable for some children and not for others.

Pornography — there is sexually-explicit material on the Internet that it is not appropriate for children to view it or seek it out. And search engine results for innocent topics may occasionally include links to inappropriate websites. Email can be a potential problem, with sexually-explicit spam.

Sexual predators try to disguise themselves as a young person in order to befriend and attract children.

Don’t despair! Even though there are potential dangers on the Internet, it is fairly easy to create a secure environment for your family. In part two, you will find steps you can follow to help ensure that your grandchildren have a positive experience online.

- Shayne

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

We’d like to hear from you. What things do you do to keep your computer safe for children?

This book was the inspiration for the many angel statues around the country which are places to remember a child who has died. Mr. Evans founded The Christmas Box House International, an organization devoted to building shelters and providing services for abused and neglected children. To date, more than 16,000 children have been housed in Christmas Box House facilities.

The most important story we will ever write in life is our own — not with ink, but with our daily choices. ~Richard Paul Evans

The Christmas Box – Richard Paul Evans shares his story.

“So,” you ask, “What do I need to do to get one of these free books?”

Just two easy things: First, we want you to subscribe to GrandparentsTLC.com, either by email or RSS. Subscribing is free, and lets you know as soon as new posts are published.

Second, we want you to share with us a favorite holiday activity or tradition you have with with your grandchildren. Holidays such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or a special New Years Eve party. To qualify, your story needs to be a minimum of 100 words (about 9 lines in the comment field). Write your entry in the comment section of this post.

We only have 35 of these books to give away, so don’t miss out! Do it now while it’s on your mind. Click here -

1. Subscribe to GrandparentsTLC.com RSS feed or by Email.
2. Add your story.

So spread the word, and let the comments commence. Thank you. We look forward to reading your entries.

By the way, If you already own a copy of The Christmas Box, you can gift this to a grandchild or a friend.

- Shayne and Tanda Packer

We will mail a copy of this book to you at no charge. So be sure to enter your correct email address in the email field. We will contact you for your shipping address. This free book offer is good only while the supply lasts. Entries will be accepted until midnight January 5th, 2009.

[Update: Please feel free to add your story, even though this giveaway has ended. No more books will be given out. Each of the people who commented before the deadline will receive their book.]

Christmastime is a delightful season! Especially when you share it with your loved ones. Grandchildren love to receive thoughtful gifts from grandparents. But more importantly, grandkids love to feel that special kind of TLC that only Grandma or Grandpa can give. Whether it’s through a personal visit, a package of homemade goodies, or via some form of modern technology — connecting grand-to-grand is a special gift grandkids look forward to with an anticipation to outshine the jolly ol’ elf in the red suit himself. There’s lots of fantastic resources on the web where Grandparents can get ideas for projects, crafts, stories, gifts, etc. Grammy Tanda and I share with you here, our favorite Christmas webpages for grandparents. Some of these links are from our very own subscribers — other grandparents who have websites or blogs — with helpful ideas and tips for that loving connection with your grandchildren. 

Uncles and aunts and cousins, are all very well, and fathers and mothers are not to be despised; but a grandmother at holiday time is worth them all. ~Fanny Fern

We know it can be frustrating at times to find what you’re looking for on the internet, so we hope these links will make it easier for you. Enjoy browsing our favorite Christmas web pages.

- Grandpa Shayne

(Tip: right-click or command-click the links to open them in a new tab so that you can refer back to this article.)

• Make a gingerbread house with your grandchildren
• Free Christmas gifts you can make for your grandchildren
• Nana’s Corner - Santa’s Favorite Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Nana Finds - Homemade Christmas treats and other ideas
• Insightful Nana - Free Christmas Printables
• Grandmother Wren’s Christmas Pages
• Advent Ideas to Share with Grandkids Near and Far
• Songs about Santa
• Free Christmas Activities, Puzzles and Crafts for Kids
• Create Christmas Photo Greeting Cards on your computer to mail to your Grandchildren
• A Review of the Childrens Book “Christmas Tree In The White House” with suggestions of other books by author, Gary Hines
• A story about a family who cannot even afford Christmas dinner, much less gifts under the tree
• Inspirational Poetry of Connie Arnold for the holiday season
• A short talk about Christmas traditions by Grandma Joy
• Online Shopping For Finding The Best Christmas Deals
• 13 Days of Christmas Giveaways
• The Ten Best Christmas Songs For the Kid in You
• Crafty: Shrinky Dink Your Christmas Tree
• Santa Claus Can Call Them For You

Let us know if you have a favorite Christmas webpage. Your comments are appreciated.

Why not give us a gift by bookmarking or emailing this to a friend!

The first thing I think of about Thanksgiving is families getting together, sharing food, fun, and laughter. Food often reminds us of our favorite memories of Thanksgivings past. Relationships are being built while taking time to share favorite memories. Small activities give us opportunities to connect with our grandchildren in comfortable ways — while we’re setting tables, eating, cleaning up.

Take time to share memories with your grandkids of Thanksgiving when their parents were little, or when your were little. How it’s the same, how it’s different. Tell them what your parents and grandparents were like so they feel a connection with their heritage. Reminisce what their parents were like as children, and things you remember about your grandchildren as babies. Share family stories. Everybody has favorite family stories that get past around, embarrassing moments, silly times. Often, repeating those stories over meal times becomes a family tradition and builds fond memories.

Many families have traditional activities they share together — a family football game, a walk in the crisp fall air. One of the things my family did when I was a child was watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.

One Thanksgiving tradition I started when our family was young is to set 3 kernels of corn by the side of each place. Each of person takes a turn telling 3 blessings they are grateful for. This idea represents the friendship the Native Americans extended to the Pilgrims in teaching them how to survive in this new land of America. They taught the English colonists how to grow corn and thus helped them survive their first year in Plimoth Plantation in New England. This led to the first Thanksgiving feast.

So, enjoy your family and your traditions. If you can’t all be together, use the blessing of modern technology to connect with your family this Thanksgiving. It’s all about making memories!

A happy family is but an earlier heaven. ~John Bowring

Grandpa Shayne and I have so much to be thankful for. We will be enjoying Thanksgiving with 3 of our married children and 5 of our grandchildren. Even though it will take us all day to get there, it will be well worth the trip. ♩♬♪ Over the river and through the woods to our grandchildren’s house we go. ♪♫♩

We express our gratitude for you, our dear readers and friends. We wish you a delightful Thanksgiving holiday with your family and loved ones.

- Grammy Tanda

Now, enjoy these links to our favorite Thanksgiving web pages. (Hint: right-click or command-click the links to open them in a new tab so that you can refer back to this article.)

• Plimoth Plantation for Kids - coloring pictures, stories, recipes…
• Disney Family.com – crafts, recipes, printables, decorations, games…
• Disney Famliy.com – how-to videos
• SandwichINK.com - Thanksgiving fun making handprint wreaths, trees…
• SandwichINK.com – more Thanksgiving ideas
• GrandmaIdeas - Fun Thanksgiving games to play with your grandchildren
• GrandmaIdeas – Make cute Thanksgiving holiday decorations (edible)
• GrandmaIdeas – More activities to do with grandchildren on Thanksgiving
• Joan Adams – Fun Thanksgiving Songs
• BeTheWeightYouWant - make pumpkin bowls and dip, eat with ginger snaps
• Peggy George – Thanksgiving Scrapblog and inspirational online movie link
• The story of how a Thanksgiving Prayer became a Family Tradition
• Nana – Gratitude, The Power In Being Thankful For Life!
• Thanksgiving Day photo greeting cards create memories for grandchildren
• Teddy Bears should be Given to All Children

We welcome your comments. Tell us about the Thanksgiving traditions your family share.

Please help us reach more readers by bookmarking or emailing this to a friend!

Using the Internet to stay close to family and friends at home and abroad

How do you raise your children and grandchildren to enjoy the full benefits of the extended family, if grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends are scattered around the world. This is a problem I have lived with first hand!

When I was a young teenager in the 1950s

My family emigrated from the UK to the USA, settling down in Florida. We left almost my entire family back in the UK, My uncle’s family had crossed over before us and had settled in Winnipeg. My parents stayed in touch with the rest of the family through the occasional “Blue Flyer” — a flimsy, hard to read, light weight aerogramme. While it was relatively expensive, it was far quicker than surface mail which could take up to six or eight weeks. Phone calls were very rare and only used for family emergencies. No wonder we had no real ties with the larger family remaining at home. Sadly some would pass away before we returned to see them.

Adding to the problems

Returning to the UK in the 1970s, I further complicated my communications difficulties by bringing my American wife and children to live in England. Now I was closer to my English relatives, but my brother and his family still remained in Florida and all my wife’s family lived in the US Midwest.

So many more letters and a few more phone calls were needed. Transatlantic phone calls still cost a few pounds to make so they were only used for special occasions. Over the next few years we made friends with many locally based US Air Force families, all of whom returned to the US to live and retire, further increasing our web of international friends and family.

Technology to the rescue

Just when we were beginning to feel the burden of high postage costs, especially around Christmas, transatlantic phone calls became more competitive dropping to ten pence (16 cents) per minute. Our letter writing just about stopped, but the greeting cards continued to flow and we still limited our phone calls to a small number of family and friends and tried to keep them to a short duration. This was still not the way to stay in touch although it seemed the solution. In the mid 1990s, we started using email but found that few of our friends in the USA were hooked up to the Internet and even fewer in the UK. Most of those emails went to family or friends via their work email addresses until the wider spread acceptance of the Internet in the early 2000s.

Now it works!

Just about everyone we know now has personal email so it is very easy to stay in touch worldwide. We have even used ship board web connections via satellite to read and send messages via our own web email service — quite costly however! As most of our contacts have moved to broadband (ADSL), exchanging photos is now quick and easy. One downside however, is the proliferation of email jokes with huge attachments (and absolutely no personal news). This hardly constitutes keeping in touch in my books but at least we know the senders are still alive!

Free International phone calls

We now use Skype, one of several Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services, with excellent results. (I have also used MS Messenger but I find Skype the best for me.) This enables us to talk to any other Skype user (almost) anywhere in the world through our PC mic/speakers, free of charge.

Skype also offers a “Skype Out” service that allows you to make cheap international calls with Skypeto telephones and mobile phones. We use it on a pay-as-you-go top-up basis. This service allows me to talk to most overseas land-line phones for about 1.5 pence per minute (about 2.1 cents) — about 25% of current international phone rates. Even better, with an inexpensive webcam, we can now “video conference” our family, provided they too have a webcam connected via Skype. While voice multi connections are possible via Skype, I do not believe it is yet possible to have a virtual video family reunion on the Skype service, although I am sure they are working on it! Skype now offers “Skype” phones which can provide an enhanced home phone that combines all the functions of land line phones, mobile/cellular phones and web phones for a fraction of traditional day to day phone costs. My friend and technical advisor is currently “checking” this out so watch his blog on www.richardfarrar.com.

Sharing Family Photos

We have tried using Flickr to share our photos around our family via the web but the uploading times are slow and not that easy. We have also found that many of our friends and family found the viewing service hard to use so we have opted to use our own web site. Currently I load the photos quickly and easily via FTP and my audience can access them at their leisure. The hard part for me, is cataloguing and labeling each photo, a process involving ASP code writing and therefore not too user friendly. I will move my photo library to our blog site soon, automating the process and making maintenance and access much easier.

Family Blog Sites

On the subject of blog sites, that seems to be the way ahead with the “family communication network”. What has started out as a hobby hopefully will get more of my friends and family commenting and contributing content (see www.thegrandparentsblog.com).

Publishing Deadlines

Creating content can be fun but is time consuming, however it is a great way to keep in touch. We use WordPress software and that makes blog site management easy. It also brings plug-in benefits — extra little tools to manage the site and to improve the communication process and content value.

Twittering

One such plug-in displays a link to twitter — an internet communication tool that takes short messages and posts them automatically to your subscribers. I use twitter, but have only a small following — my fault, because I am not yet used to adding news items and so far not many in my family/friends network have signed up.

In Summary

Thus far, we have been able to find old friends we thought we had lost touch with forever. We can stay in daily contact with brothers and sisters and other family members, between our sadly, far too infrequent visits to each other. It is getting better every day as web technology improves and our grandchildren now have a much greater appreciation for our global family.

Sadly too late for me, I saw my grandparents only twice in their last twenty years because of the transatlantic divide! I am so grateful that our own grandchildren will not have the same regrets.

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. ~Alex Haley

Find me at

• The Grandparents Blog
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Email

- Grandpa Davison

[Tell us how you use the Internet to stay close to your family. We enjoy reading your comments.]

Share this with family and friends. Email a link to this page, or use this bookmark tool:

I started a blog as an older grandparent, to express to my grandchildren my beliefs, and the family stories. This is a wonderful way to share with them, since everyone is so busy. They all have very little time. I try to add to my blog every Sunday. I currently am talking about miracles I have seen. This has been a journey for me. In pondering and thinking about miracles, I have come to appreciate the world so much more.

Expressing my thoughts has required I think about those I am writing for, and also those I am writing about. I try to write just two or three paragraphs and keep it to one subject, so that it isn’t too much reading at any one time.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. ~Charles R. Swindoll

I still work, but we have 5 wonderful children, grown grandchildren and we now have one great grandchild. When I was growing up, I knew my grandparents, and one great grandmother, plus much more extended family. This is not so with the younger generations, so a blog is a great way to connect. I encourage other grandparents to jump in and blog too. It is work and takes some study, but get started and watch it grow as you grow and learn. My blog is rgkaiserfamily.com. Visitors are welcome!

Grandma Kaiser

Visit Grandma Kaiser’s blog.

We want to here from you. Tell us about your blog our family website where you share your life with your grandchildren? Please leave a comment below.

Share this with family and friends. Email a link to this page, or use this bookmark button: