I would like to offer some ideas on how grandparents can be more involved with their grandchildren on Memorial Day.

About Memorial Day: Memorial Day is a holiday celebrated in the United States of America to honor those who have given their lives in service to their country. (Other countries also have a memorial day.) Many Americans also honor their ancestors, family, or friends on Memorial Day. Some people also honor veterans that are still living, which I think is cool, although Veterans Day is set apart for honoring all veterans.

Teach your family and grandchildren the significance of Memorial Day. Enjoy time with them. Here are some ideas:

• Talk to your grandchildren about the meaning and importance of the holiday.
• Write a letter to them or share a journal entry.
• Show your respect and appreciation through your example.
• Go with your grandchildren and family to decorate a grave of a soldier of ancestor.
• Together, thank a living veteran in person or by letter or email.
• Attend a parade, concert, or festival. Visit a national cemetery or monument.
• If you can’t be with your grandkids in person, have a live video chat with them. (See my post “How to Video Chat with Your Grandkids”)

Here are a few websites that offer free Memorial Day activities and craft ideas for children:

• FreeKidCrafts.com
• FamilyEducation.com
• Apples4TheTeacher.com

Enjoy this Memorial Day with your grandchildren!

- Grandpa Shayne

We’d like to hear from you. Please comment below to tell us how you like to celebrate Memorial Day with your grandkids.

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I always put my “grandparent glasses” on as I review websites, to see how they can enable us as grandparents to connect with our grandchildren in fun new ways. Today, I’m delighted to help you discover StoryOfMyLife.com. Story of My Life is a place where people can write and store their life story, forever, for free!
The Story of My Life website “features one fascinating person per day.” They have given Grammy Tanda and me the honor of featuring each of us in a set of stories written by professional storyteller Sarah Peppel. My story is featured on the site today (Feb. 4, 2009), and Tanda’s story on Feb. 5, 2009.

I’m sure you’ll agree that there is nothing in life that compares with the wonderful feeling of being surrounded by our family and grandchildren. We want to feel connected. We want to share our legacy, our stories with our posterity. Family history is important.

The history of our grandparents is remembered, not with rose petals, but in the laughter and tears of their children and their children’s children. It is into us that the lives of grandparents have gone. It is in us that their history becomes a future. ~Charles and Ann Morse

Have you ever felt the excitement of finding a letter or journal from a grandparent or ancestor? Something that paints a picture of their personality and life. Remember (or imagine) as you read it, how you seemed to connect and bond with them?

Now I want you to ask yourself this soul-searching question: Wouldn’t you want your grandchildren and posterity to have the same experience, to feel the same love and bonding with you after your gone? Sure you would!

So, what do you need to do to make that happen for them? You need to write the story of your life! Our grandkids deserve to get to know us. They will cherish the memories that we share with them in person. Through our stories, they will come to love and admire us for the good in our hearts, as well as for our struggles and trials. It’s all part of life.

Now, thanks to modern technology, writing your life story is easier than you might think. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Story of My Life all the tools you need to record your life stories, one slice at a time. It has been engineered to bring all the pieces together in a coherent, finished compilation; with chapters and categories. You simply write short stories about an era of your life; about specific events that shaped your character.

They have a rich help system, complete with FAQs, glossary, a writer’s forum, etc. The writer’s forum includes help to get you started, overcome reservations you may have, and tips and links on storytelling. One of the most powerful aids in the writer’s forum, is a set of inspirational questions to ask yourself to help trigger memories. These questions are organized into three stages of life, each with categories and events that provide you with a suggested outline for chapters in your life story.

There is a Getting Started section that encourages you to “start with computer, and simply begin writing.” It explains “the website makes it so easy for you to start slowly and build your Stories on top of each other. You select a time frame and the system will automatically sort things chronologically.”

About Story of My Life

CEO Patrick Tardif is the mastermind of Story of My Life. He describes Story of My Life as a collection of “people’s life stories” that categorizes “important things about people to share through the generations. Story of My Life is a place where you leave your legacy; place secrets in a time capsule, and transfer your stories to your next generation.”

StoryOfMyLife.com has over 100,000 stories at this time. Most of them are private, but many are public so anyone can read them. There are three types of networks: family, friends, and interest groups. So you can invite people to your networks, and request to join other’s networks.

When I talked with Kristen Kuhns, COO of Story of My Life, she suggested their site differs from other social networking sites by using this metaphor: “If LinkedIn is the office, Facebook is the school reunion, MySpace is the concert/club, Twitter is the conversation at the water cooler, then Story of My Life is the family backyard BBQ!”

The Story of My Life Foundation™ is a not-for-profit entity who manages the content related to the Story of My Life website. The foundation has a “Forever Promise” to store and safeguard your life story forever.

May I offer you a couple of tips?

• When you set up your account, choose a username (ID) that’s readable, and capitalize each name or word. For example: ShaynePacker, not shaynepacker. GrandmaWebb, not grandmawebb. I usually advise people to use their real name and photo. The same for any social network, such as Facebook and twitter. (See my Twitter quick start checklist.)
• As you write your personal history, ask yourself these two very important questions: 1. “What do I want my grandchildren to know about me, my personality and character traits, about my life?”  2. “What do I want my grandchildren to know about life? What counsel can I offer them? Advice, tips, warnings?”

So go look it over and give it a try. Then invite your family and friends to take a look once you’ve got started. You don’t need to be completely finished before you start sharing your stories with others. Hey, it’s a work in progress. Think of it like building a house. You want to share your enthusiasm by inviting folks to follow your progress. And don’t worry if there might be some construction rubble lying around.

I encourage you to start today. Sign up for an account. (It’s free.) Then, while your over there at StoryOfMyLife.com, we would be honored if you would read Tanda’s and my featured story and leave a comment there.

What next?

• Read “Eyeing Technology Through Grandparent Glasses” – Grandpa Shayne’s story on StoryOfMyLife.com.
• Read “That’s Where Tradition Stops, Buddy!” – Grammy Tanda’s story on StoryOfMyLife.com.
• Sign up for free a free account on StoryOfMyLife.com.
• Please go back to mine and Tanda’s stories and write a comment.
• Go to the Story of My Life home page and click on the orange “Take a Tour” button. Explore their site. Read some of the stories.
• Explore their help section, especially the Writer’s Forum. (Click the life preserver icon at the top of any page, then click the Writer’s Forum tab.)
• Start writing your own life story. Have fun. Share it with those you love.

- Shayne Packer

We welcome your comments. Tell us how your life story project is coming. Once you have a profile set up on StoryOfMyLife.com, let us know your username or your Story URL so we can come read the story of your life.

Related post: The TLC in Grandparenting

Related post: ScrapBlog digital scrapbooks – website review

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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.

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Do you like surfing the web to find articles and tips about grandparenting? There’s a lot of useful information on the WWW. Grandpa Shayne and I are always looking for fun way to connect with the grandkids. We’ve collected some of our favorite Halloween web pages for grandparents.

Halloween is a wonderful time to share with the family. It’s especially fun to see the grandkids all dressed up in their favorite costumes. Here’s a photo of our 6 month old grandbaby in the cute costume I bought at 60% off. Hey, I’m like my mom, always looking for a bargain!

A grandmother pretends she doesn’t know who you are on Halloween. ~Erma Bombeck

I teach family and consumer science, I’ve always admired Erma Bombeck. She was such a practical homemaker.

Shayne is a Cub Master, and one of his Weblos is a budding artist named Zac Willberg. He draws comics and publishes them on Zac’s Cartoon Cave blog. Shayne commissioned Zac to draw a special comic strip for today’s Halloween post. Boo is the main character (a ghost). Ancient is his girlfriend (a mummy). Today, there’s a special guest appearance by Boo’s Grandma.

Halloweenies by Zac Willberg

One of our favorite cartoons by Zac is his Charlie Brown Halloween.

Before you leave, be sure to subscribe to our Grandparents TLC feed.

Favorite family-friendly web pages with ideas for grandparents

Nana’s Corner – Halloween recipes and poems

Nana Finds – Special halloween books for grandchildren and Ideas for homemade Halloween costumes

Joan Adams – collection of fun Halloween songs and lyrics. (Joan says “I hope you all have as much fun with this site as I have! We love to sing with the grandchildren! Our two are 5 and 6 years old, so they are the perfect age for learning all the fun Halloween favorites! Enjoy!”)

Grandma Ideas – Halloween ideas for grandchildren

Grandmother Wren - Family Alternatives to Halloween

SandwichINK – Sharing God’s Love on Halloween

LoveMyGrandchild – Halloween ideas

FamilyCorner – Lots of Halloween ideas

ParentHacks – Best Parent Hacks (tips and ideas that work for grandparents too)

GroupCard – Free Halloween ecards (the whole family can sign an ecard)

Bluemountain – Free Halloween ecards (free month trial)

DLTK’s Crafts for Kids – Halloween Activities for Children (halloween coloring pages, printables, worksheets, craft projects, games and puzzles, online games, pumpkin carving patterns, recipes)

Babble – Just in Time for Halloween: How to Make Your Own Slime

Radiant Ideas – Tips for going green this Halloween

What are some of your favorite Halloween web pages? You are welcome to add your family-friendly link in your comment.

Have a fun Halloween! – Grammy Tanda

Hey, I’m on twitter now!

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about my trip to visit two of my young grandsons. I had planned to stay one week, but we had such a wonderful time together, I stayed an extra week. As you may recall, I wrote about my plan to give the boys “Grandpa bucks” as a positive reinforcement. Well, I did it, and I’m telling you, it worked really well! Talk about motivating children!

I had originally come up with the idea when my children were young. When we would go to our extended family reunions and camp outs, we wanted a way to encourage all of the kids to pitch in, help out, eat up, and chow down. (A bit of child psychology.) So I printed lots of small play money before the reunions. They had a picture of my dad on it, and wrote “One Packer Buck”. Each day, all of the adults would hand out a Packer buck to any young’un that they wanted to reward for good behavior of any kind. Then every afternoon around snack time, we’d open up the “Packer Store”. We cover a table with all kinds of healthy snacks. (Well, maybe there were a few mini-sized candy bars and licorice.) We’d also have some inexpensive stuff from the dollar store: toys, crafts, etc. The kids all enjoyed earning and spending Packer Bucks.

Do you know why grandchildren are always so full of energy? They suck it out of their grandparents. ~Gene Perret

So during my recent visit, I thought of how hyper and cranky 3 and 6 year old boys can get sometimes. I know yelling at them doesn’t work. Besides, Grammy Tanda taught me by her example that a grandparent’s job is to give love, hugs, and positive encouragement; to be a cheerleader and a talent scout.

I remembered how successful the Packer bucks were. So the first thing my daughter and I did was stop by the dollar store and pick up some play money and toys. We also got some snacks. Then when we got to their house, I borrowed a “treasure chest” to stash the loot. Then everyday I would be on the lookout for reasons to reward them with Grandpa Bucks. The kids loved it!

I think this is a fun way to encourage grandchildren, and I highly recommend it. Try it! Here are a few suggestions for you. First, explain to the kids how the program works. Also let them know about some of the “surprises” you have in your “cache of goodies”. Each time you open up your “store”, first ask them to count how many grandpa/grandma bucks they have. This will give you an idea of how much to reward them. Then show them the stuff you have available. You can charge any amount you want per item, depending on how well they did and how cool the item is they want. If they want too much (and they probably will the first time), tell them they can earn some more bucks for tomorrow. Most of all, just have fun!

Reasons to give a buck:

• when kids need positive encouragement
• good behavior of any kind
• when they “choose the right”
• positive reinforcement
• putting away their toys
• picking up their clothes off the floor
• putting dirty clothes in the hamper
• doing something right without being asked
• eating their veggies
• not hitting or calling names when they get upset

Stuff to stock your store with:

• arts supplies
• crafts
• stuff for a hobby of theirs
• items to add to a collection they have
• toys
• cool flashlights that blink colors
• coloring books
• crayons or non-permanent markers
• regular pencils and colored pencils
• watercolors
• games
• healthy snacks
• fruit
• sugar free gum
• ingredients for s’mores
• junk food (just kidding)
• sports: soft baseballs and footballs

What do you think? Any other ideas come to mind that you could use as a reason to reward your grandchildren? What stuff would you stock your store with?

Have fun! Shayne

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