Time for a Good Book

Don't you love reading? Don't you love books? Sharing the magic between the covers of a book with our kids and grandkids is one of the pleasures of being a parent.
But books are more than just fun. Books can encourage, educate and elevate the character of their readers. And when we share a favorite book with a friend (or one of our kids or grandkids), we share a part of what makes us who we are.
I like to introduce my friends and family to the characters I've known (in the pages of books) and loved. Some of my favorites include Amelia Bedelia, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, and Mary Poppins.
The Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parrish reminds young readers that everyone gets things mixed up. As a child, that was reassuring information! Amelia Bedelia is a maid who does exactly what she is told, to great comic effect! This series now includes some “I Can Read” picture books for early readers, but they are also great fun to read together.
Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, who lives in an unusual house, understands everything she needs to know about children. Do you know an Answer-Backer or a Never-Want-to-go-to Bedder? Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle knows just what to do! Betty MacDonald's books will keep you all laughing even while you begin to recognize the benefits of good behavior.
If all you know of Mary Poppins is the movie, perhaps it's time to check out P. Travers' books about the practically-perfect nanny who has surprising ways of making children mind their manners as well as their parents. This is another good book to read together, and offers an easy way into a conversation about why manners and minding matter.
It's always a good time to share a good book with a child you love!

Hurry Up!

The four-year old was helping pass the offering basket in church last Sunday. When she got to a row where the dad was taking a little too long to get his wallet out of his pocket, she put her hands on her hips and whispered emphatically, “Hurry up! We need that money!”
Kids -- you've got to love them!

Three More Ways . . .

How do we let the children in our lives know we love them? Here are three more ways we can demonstrate our feelings to them:
Pray for them. Praying for our grandchildren (and for our own children as they parent our grandchildren) allows us to bring them before our heavenly Father regularly. What greater love could we demonstrate?
As we pray, we can ask for God's protection over them; for His blessing on them; and for Him to shape their character, their opportunities, and their faith in Him. We can pray that their relationships with their parents, their siblings, their friends, and their teachers will be healthy and holy. We can pray that they will meet challenges and adversities with grace, strength, and courage, and that they will be a blessing to those around them. We can pray that they will come to faith in God through Jesus Christ, and that they will experience the joy of the Lord in every area of their lives.
Share your skills, hobbies and interests with your grandchildren. If you like to fish, show them how to bait a hook or set up a tackle box. If you like to bake, share your favorite cookie recipes with them. If you like to hike, take them hiking, or at least on a walk around the neighborhood! Sharing the things that mean something to you is another way of demonstrating love to a child.
Show interest in what interests them. Ask him to tell you about the things he is doing, the books he is reading, the hobbies he participates in. Listen to his answers, then ask more questions. What sports does he participate in? Become a fan: go to a game or a meet. Go to a performance or a contest. Keep up with what he is doing, and talk with him about it.
Demonstrating your love for a child can be fun for both of you.

Three Ways to Demonstrate Love . . .

Hugs are good for demonstrating love. And they offer an opportunity to check out how tall a grandchild is growing, which often leads to giggling.
Cookies are good for demonstrating love, especially if the grandchild is allowed to help bake them. If that's not possible, it's fun to receive them in the mail -- wrap each cookie individually to give it the best chance for crumb-free delivery -- or a tea party with freshly baked cookies says “I love you,” especially if you dress up for the occasion -- even if the costumes come from your dress-up box.
Letters and notes are good for demonstrating love, because who doesn't like to get mail? Enclosing a photograph of something you did together is an added bonus. Or you might include a poem, and invite your grandchild to memorize it, too, so that you can say it together when you see one another the next time.
It's not so much what we do to demonstrate our love, it's that we do something. Grandkids respond to love like sponges respond to water: they soak it up.
It's a mutual blessing.

Ways and Means . . .

How do you show your grandchildren that you love them?
Hugs? Cookies? Letters?
And how do your grandkids respond?
Inquiring minds want to know . . .

Toad Cottages? Shooting Stars? Yes!

I love good surprises, especially when they come in the mail.
Yesterday's delivery brought a delightful surprise: a book by Sharon Lovejoy, Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars. It's subtitled Grandma's Bag of Tricks, so you can imagine how excited I was to sit down and explore its pages.
This is a wonderful book for everyone, full of projects, information, and stories.
You can learn to make firefly lanterns, underwater viewers, critter cakes, and rain sticks, as well as over 125 other projects. All of them look fun -- the hard part will be choosing which ones to try first.
What makes it even better is that this book is child friendly. Projects are explained in enough detail for a novice, but offer challenges to kids and grandparents who know a little more about what they are doing.
If you're looking for projects to do with your kids or grandkids, Toad Cottages & Shooting Stars looks like a good place to start.
I'll let you know how it goes!

A Dish of Treasures

We keep a dish of treasures on the sideboard in the dining room.
There's a buckeye from the timber on the farm where my husband grew up. There are acorns from the big oak down the street from our house.
And there's a flat, grey rock from the creek by our house, courtesy of the four year old who went exploring there with his dad this week.
The creek is dry right now, but it's still exciting, especially if you're four years old. There are all kinds of treasures, including an expired possum hidden away behind a rock; the possum won't make it into the dish of treasures, of course, but it was interesting nonetheless.
The curiosity of a child can complicate the lives of everyone around him, but it is also enriching. It makes us look again at the things that we've grown accustomed to; it makes us pay attention to what is going on all around us.
The four year old has gone home today, but I'll be watching what is going on in the creekbed more carefully, and I'll spend a little time appreciating the flat, grey rock in my dish of treasures.

Tell Me a Story . . .

One gift we can give our children and grandchildren is a good story.
Whether it's a fairy tale or a family story, learning how to tell a story is a skill any grandparent can learn and use to encourage, affirm, and entertain.
Check out this column, Once Upon a Time, from Hearts at Home, for tips about telling stories.

ArtsInk -- Fun For All

I had a chance to attend the grand opening of The Children's Discovery Museum's innovative new exhibit, ARTSINK!, and was it ever fun!
This exhibit focuses on the arts, particularly music (and music's relationship to math), puppets and performance, and storytelling. The design is fresh, the activities intriguing, and the experience delightful for everyone who visits.
If you get a chance, be sure to take a small person and visit ARTSINK!

Learning Tips from Grandma's House

A new school year is well underway, and our grandchildren are busy with school assignments, projects, and activities. It's good to remember, though, that children are always learning, and that as grandparents, we are some of the people they are learning from.
This article, Grandma's House: Learning Tips, from the SpringfieldMoms website talks about some of the ways grandparents make good teachers for children of all ages.