Grandma Stories» Adult Children

I’m Going To Be a Grandma Again! More Grandma Stories to Tell!

Grandma — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:28:27 +0000

Yep, I’m going to be a grandma again, and I’m so happy and excited since hearing the news, I can’t help but make an announcement on Grandma Stories! I still consider myself a new grandma, since my two grandchildren are still so young, but now we’re having grandchild number three! Grandpa and I are both beside ourselves with excitement at the upcoming birth of my third grandchild (his fourth), and I’m doing my best to control my desire to rush off to the baby stores and shop till I drop!

Even though I don’t have an official grandma name or nickname quite yet, it really does not matter if I chose a name for myself or not, because the grandchildren are going to ultimately decide on my/our nicknames. My grandchildren are so young, but starting to talk more at this point, so there is plenty of time for choosing grandma and grandpa nicknames. I can think of a whole variety of grandparent names to choose from for my/our grandchildren to call us that we would prefer, but when it’s all said and done, the grandkids will make the decision and I’m fine with that.

Calling me Grandma is just fine of course, but I’d prefer not to be called Nana because one of the other grandmothers is already called Nana and the baby’s are going to get confused figuring out who Nana 1 is and who Nana 2 is. One of my sons and his lady love are expecting our new grandchild sometime in May of next year, so there’s plenty of time to prepare and plan for the day of his or her birth. I’ve already seen sonogram pictures of the growing baby, but it’s still very early into the pregnancy, so more sonograms are sure to be taken.

Oh the fun we will have holding, loving, playing with, rocking in the rocking chair, singing lullabies and playing peek-a-boo, buying toys and gifts for this new little baby. Oh yeah, and spoiling him or her is on the top of my list, just like my other grandchildren, that’s for sure! Okay, spoiling within reason, but not over the top extravagant, where the parents might feel the need to tell me to pull back the reins a bit. Grandparenting is awesome!

Over the Christmas holiday this year, the pregnancy will most likely be far enough along where the happy parents will find out whether we’re having a healthy baby boy or girl. I already have a grandson and a granddaughter, so we have no particular wish for a boy vs. a girl baby, even though the parents are hoping to have a baby boy. Seeing my son holding and cradling my granddaughter when she was first born tells me it won’t matter at all if the baby is a girl or a boy, because he is going to be an excellent father either way.

It is very important to me as a Grandmother to be careful to respect boundaries and give the parents their rightful space to make their personal decisions together, and not over-step. That is not to say that as grandparents we won’t offer suggestions, recommendations and guidance when desired, but the ideas we share are just that, ideas and suggestions. The fact that I am a mother of six children myself, and Grandpa is a father of two, we both know a few things about pregnancy, childbirth, babies, two o’clock in the morning feedings, parenting etc, so any advice or suggestions we may give is always with the purest intentions.

I understand all too well the sometimes overwhelming thoughts, fears, concerns, feelings and emotions that run through the minds and hearts of new parents. First-time parents often experience a flood of self-doubt, as to whether they will be good mothers and fathers, and that is one area that Grandpa and I can be of help. As a matter of fact, I’ve already ordered my son Armin Brott’s book The Expectant Father, as it provides a lot of great information for brand new fathers to help answer all of the questions new dad’s ask and wonder about.

Of course, the baby’s mother also receives the very popular What to Expect When You’re Expecting book by Heidi Murkoff, with excellent information and pictures of each stage of pregnancy and more. Quick, someone hold me back from rushing off to Babies R Us and Toys R Us and buying up a bunch of baby stuff already! Oh my gosh! I’m going to be a Grandma again! I couldn’t be more excited and neither could Grandpa.

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Valentine’s Day For Grandparents

Grandma — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:12:24 +0000

Valentine’s Day is a special holiday for sweethearts, friends, lovers, spouses etc and that includes grandparents, on February 14 of each year. Valentine’s Day for us this year will be spent visiting with our grandchildren and grown children, out of town. There will likely be the Valentine’s Day cards and small gift-giving, even if the gifts are very cheap from stores like Walmart or Target.

Valentine’s Day gifts for lovers or wives typically mean sending flowers of one kind or another, but considering how overpriced flowers are during the Valentine’s holiday, flowers just never cross our minds to give as a gift to each other. I don’t mind at all either because there is really no good reason I can think of to spend so much money on Valentine’s Day flower bouquets that are just going to die in a few days.

We’ll wait until we arrive at our destination, where the kids and grandkids live, before we embark on buying any cards or inexpensive gift of some kind. The most we will do gift-wise is probably just buy a small toy for the grandchildren and just give cards to the adult kids. Since the grandkids are still very young, any Valentine’s Day gift for him and her may end up being a little toy they can play with to their heart’s content.

Maybe, and it’s a big maybe, we might also give the grown kids a small box of Valentine’s Day heart candy or something similar, if they’re not already sold out at the local stores near our hotel. Valentine’s Day is at the very beginning of our Chicago vacation trip for a week’s visit with the grown children and grandchildren, so planning anything special to do on Valentine’s Day may be a little difficult depending on their work schedules and other family responsibilities.

There is of course the weather to consider as well, so we’re expecting to plan mostly indoor things to do while we’re in Chicago, and spend some time checking out some of the new businesses, fun venues and restaurants that have opened up since we were there last. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re spending Valentine’s Day out of town, playing and having fun with the kids and grandkids, I’d almost say that Valentine’s Day for grandparents is overrated. Why?

Because neither of us are interested in the over-commercialism (materialism) of many of the holidays, especially Valentines Day and Christmas, and just because we’re grandparents doesn’t mean we will make a big deal out of one more holiday pushed on consumers to spend, spend, spend. We’ll just go with inexpensive, cheap, cheaper and cheapest.

If I had the time and inclination to actually make some homemade gifts for Valentine’s Day, like winter scarves or gloves etc, making gifts could almost count as a free Valentine’s Day gift since yarn is so dirt cheap. Since I don’t know how to knit or crochet, nor do I care to learn how, we’ll just make a point of stopping in one of the local stores and pick up something appropriate for the holiday.

From what all the grown kids have said so far while planning this vacation trip, all they care about is having us there for the week and spending time together “hanging out” and doing a bunch of fun activities around town that are soft on the wallet. Theirs and ours, since they pay their own way to each of the places we go while we’re in town.

Our not being expected to pay their way for everything we do and places we go is a great bonus, and we greatly appreciate their pre-planning of their budget to leave some room for spending Valentine’s Day with the grandparents, with their own money. The hugs, kisses, tickles and laughter are all free gifts to each other, and those last a lot longer than some stupid bouquet of flowers anyway.

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Repairing Drywall Cracks in Textured Drywall

Grandma — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:00:40 +0000

Repairing drywall cracks in drywall, due to foundation settling from the extreme heat we get in Texas, started before my husband fell through the ceiling and we had to learn about repairing large ceiling holes in a textured ceiling. If you have ever had cracks in your foundation and needed to know how to fix or repair cracks in drywall, let me tell you right now, doing these repairs yourself is a pain in the butt.

Having to fix foundation cracks is a costly project, plus the cost of repairing or replacing broken brick on the exterior of the house, and replacing shrubs or bushes that were destroyed in the process. Getting our green grass to grow back again isn’t a big deal at all, and we’re not the least bit worried about regrowing grass right now. I know people who decided to fix their cracked foundation themselves, rather than hiring a foundation specialist to do the repairs, but that is one do-it-yourself project that has “Hell No” written all over it.

As a homeowner, doing repairs or home improvement projects comes with owning a house, that’s for sure. Being able to fix drywall cracks on the interior of the house ourselves, with the help of an experienced carpenter in the family, is saving us a lot of money in the long run.

Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to go far to learn how to patch drywall cracks, and I was happy and relieved to find out that do-it-yourself drywall repairs to repair damaged drywall doesn’t take very long to finish. If we didn’t have our own carpenter to rely on to help us repair the drywall, something tells me that our DIY project to patch the drywall plus taping, bedding, texturing, painting and finishing the walls would have brought on a lot of cussing and do-overs.

Foundation Problems Warning Signs

Cracks in the ceiling or walls

Separation of ceiling trim or crown molding

Cracks in interior walls near corners of doors or windows

Obvious cracks in exterior brick and mortar

Windows, doors and wall joints cracking and pulling away from each other

Doors that are sticking or have been shaven at the top

Door sill separates from the door frame

Cracks and/or leaks in and around the brick fireplace wall

Noticeable change in elevation or “slope” of the floor when walking

Cracks in ceramic tile

Tears, wrinkles or separating wallpaper

Previous or existing sheetrock repairs showing signs of curling or tearing

Windows that stick or are very difficult to open/close

Drywall nails popping out of sheetrock, gypsum board or corner frames

I don’t know all of the causes of foundation problems, but extreme heat is one we know all too well here in Texas. If we had to do all of this drywall work completely on our own, without our trusted carpenter to help us, there are “how-to” videos online that teach how to fix drywall cracks and even videos about how to tape drywall that would come in very handy.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with our foundation problem or is related at all to having to repair cracked drywall or not, but it seems odd that we had ant problems for a short time during this whole ordeal. As soon as the foundation was fixed, closed and sealed up, the ant problem disappeared completely.

I don’t know if these were just your ordinary household ants or if they were carpenter ants, but Grandpa mentioned something about Rasberry crazy ants being a big problem in Houston, Texas in recent years and that the crazy ant problem is spreading.

Oh great, just what we need. A crazy ant invasion taking over our homes and neighborhoods. Ick. Why I keep wanting to spell Rasberry ants as Raspberry crazy ants with a P, I don’t know, but who would have thought that repairing drywall cracks and fixing foundation problems would make me think of raspberry jelly? I crack myself up sometimes.

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Grandma’s Cooking Ham Roll Ups in Grandma’s Kitchen

Grandma — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:00:16 +0000

What’s cooking Grandma? Grandma’s kitchen is a favorite place to be at Grandma’s house when the kids and grandchildren are in town, and one of Grandma’s recipes that continues to be popular is Grandma’s ham roll ups recipe with broccoli.

Being a Grandma is wonderful, and passing along to my children and grandchildren many of their favorite recipes that have been prepared for them over the years is an added perk. People that haven’t learned how to make ham roll ups, or broccoli ham roll ups, are really missing out on a great recipe.

I would guess that many of the recipes given to me over the years originally came from my Grandma or great grandmother, but I can’t be sure of that. Cooking in the kitchen with my mother as I was growing up usually meant we were baking cookies or other sweet treats, as she preferred to be cooking in the kitchen by herself when preparing or cooking dinner meals for a family of eight, and that was ok.

There were never any leftovers at our house when mom made her ham roll ups recipe, and since we all loved broccoli with cheese sauce anyway, her ham roll ups were a hit. When I got married, I was given many family recipes and some great cookbooks to start my own cookbook collection, and I was thrilled to find a Mexican roll ups recipe included in one of the cookbooks. We always doubled (sometimes tripled) this recipe, since the kids love ham-broccoli roll ups so much.

Broccoli Ham Roll Ups Recipe

20 oz Broccoli spears, fresh or frozen

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

6 slices boiled ham, 4×6 inches in size

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook broccoli according to package directions or until tender. While broccoli is cooking, melt butter/margarine in a heavy saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add cheese and continue stirring until cheese is melted. Do not overcook.

Divide broccoli spears into 6 portions, splitting large stalks as necessary. Alternate direction of flower ends within each portion. Place broccoli portions on and parallel to narrow end of each ham slice, extending flower ends over edges of ham. Roll as for jellyroll with broccoli in the center of each rollup. Arrange rollups in a baking dish with seam side down. Use toothpicks to secure, if necessary. Pour cheese sauce over rollups. Bake until sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Another variation of the ham broccoli roll ups is Asparagus-Ham Rollups — Use fresh or frozen asparagus spears in place of the broccoli.

Cooking Mexican food and learning how to cook Mexican type dishes I hadn’t learned yet became a favorite hobby of mine, and my Mexican husband was beside himself when I surprised him with Mexican roll ups. My entire history of cooking was all about Mexican food, and making typical American type meals was a rare thing at our house, except for the ham broccoli roll ups and a few other American foods.

I can make some pretty mean authentic homemade tamales, Mexican posole soup, beef tongue tacos, Octopus stew, Mexican fish soup, potato tacos, menudo, and many other Mexican dishes that would blow your mind. No Tex-Mex type dishes were ever made in this Grandma’s kitchen – only Authentic Mexican food will do.

I haven’t made homemade tamales for many years now, and the idea of spending two full days in the kitchen making tamales with pork, beef or chicken just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I have one of the best sweet tamales recipes ever known to man in my recipe collection, and one of these days I may have to make some sweet tamales to surprise the kids and grandkids.

Since my whole history of cooking was making Mexican food and not your ordinary American meals, I couldn’t be happier that Grandpa is an excellent cook and is very handy in the kitchen. Grandpa knows how to grill a steak like no one else does, and you know you’ve had a great steak when you don’t want or need to add steak sauce to give it any flavor. Thank goodness for Grandpa’s kitchen abilities!

Image Source: Kraft Foods

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Bad Gift Emporium – When It’s The Thought That Counts is Bad Gifts

Grandma — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:58:32 +0000

Heard of the Bad Gift Emporium? The Bad Gift Emporium is a site dedicated to re-gifting a gift received that are unwanted gifts. Bad Gift Emporium is the online version of people standing in those long return lines and gift exchange lines at stores to return bad gifts, since the belief of it’s the thought that counts is just a lie.

A bad gift may be both radiant or repulsive to the gift recipient, depending on the eye of the beholder. If you’ve ever stood in the gift returns line to return or exchange a bad gift, or a White Elephant gift you don’t want, check out Bad Gift Emporium at badgiftemporium.com

The day after Christmas is always a popular day for people to go to Bad Gift Emporium, which makes the bad gift site show up on the list of trending topics at Google Trends. Remember, it’s the thought that counts…..right? Wrong.

If you received a few gifts that you don’t want or don’t like, Bad Gift Emporium is the site of the day to explore, trade or compare your own bad gifts collection with the gifts that have been submitted.

Remember the old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? That’s one reason why Bad Gifts Emporium is so popular right after Christmas. No driving to the store and standing in those long lines to return bad gifts anymore. Just head over to the bad gifts official website and turn in your bad gifts or unwanted gifts for someone else to enjoy.

At Bad Gift Emporium, people upload photos of bad gifts they received with hope that some visitor will see it and want to take their gift off their hands. Some people may have to keep their bad gifts, especially if they live with the bad gift-giver, so those people just share photos of the bad gifts they have to keep and put up with for a verrrry long time.

If nothing else, checking out the Bad Gift Emporium website can be a fun and entertaining site to visit just to see what sort of things people consider to be a bad gift. Plus, it further proves the point that it’s the thought that counts is just a bunch of bull.

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Do It Yourself Ceiling Fix to Repair Large Ceiling Holes

Grandma — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:26:26 +0000

What do you do when there is a hole in your ceiling needing to be fixed? Not just any ceiling fix either. No, I’m talking about fixing a large hole in the ceiling. A verrrry large hole. See, my husband fell through the ceiling and we now have a large ceiling hole above our living room/den and we have to patch the hole. Yes really.

My husband fell through the ceiling while working in the attic recently, because air-conditioning men we hired to replace one of our air-conditioning units left loose air ducts, so my husband was in the attic trying to tighten them when he slipped and fell through the ceiling.

Thankfully he wasn’t seriously hurt, no cracked or broken bones to speak of, but he did get some pretty nasty scratches and bruises. Oh, the curse words were flying everywhere for sure, but at least he was ok.

Seeing my husband’s body hanging through the ceiling, struggling to catch himself so he didn’t fall all the way through, is a very scary sight to behold. Fortunately, Grandpa was able to pull himself up through the large, gaping hole in the ceiling and didn’t fall all the way down to the floor. It’s a longggg way down.

If he had fallen through the ceiling all the way down to the floor, there’s no telling how bad the injuries could have been, but a broken leg or even a hip fracture is the least of the injuries I’ve heard of from people falling through ceilings or off of roofs.

Trust me, the ceiling got the worst of it.

How to Fix Ceiling Holes

Repairing ceiling holes includes drywall work that even my personal “fix it man”, as I playfully call him, isn’t experienced in. There are things you need to buy, rent or have on hand if you’re going to repair a wall or ceiling on your own. Unfortunately, since we have high ceilings, we’ll have to rent scaffolding equipment for Grandpa and another family member (an experienced carpenter) to use in order to reach and fix the ceiling hole.

We have high ceilings that are textured with that popcorn “cottage cheese” texture, and we have learned the hard way that patching or repairing ceiling holes is a costly project. Home maintenance costs are sky-rocketing, so getting cost estimates to patch a ceiling hole from professional home improvement companies is enough to make your eyes bug out.

The lowest quote we were given to repair the ceiling hole was over three thousand dollars for a two-day fix-it job. $3000.00 and up is not in our budget, and we feel quite fortunate to know people who are experienced in home improvement and drywall to help keep costs as low as possible.

No wonder so many homeowners prefer the DIY home improvement route to patch holes in walls or ceilings, and when you’re working hard to get out of debt, the last thing you need is an expensive home repair job to patch a popcorn ceiling hole.

Not only that, but we don’t have to concern ourselves about finding out how to paint or get rid of a popcorn ceiling either, because our guy already knows how and is doing the repair and paint work with Grandpa’s help for a mere fraction of the cost given in estimates.

From what I’ve heard, fixing textured ceilings is a pain in the butt, but when it comes to having to repair holes in a ceiling, the pain of patching a popcorn ceiling do-it-yourself style is well worth it vs. the pain in the pocketbook. I just hope they match the paint colors right so we don’t have to hire an experienced painter to finish the job.

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Getting Out Of Debt On Your Own – Personal Finance Blogs to Help Get Out of Debt

Grandma — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:38:37 +0000

Grandpa and I have been working hard on getting out of debt, or more specifically, getting out of credit card debt, on our own. Like many other Americans who are dealing with debt from credit cards and/or loans etc, working hard to reduce or eliminate debt from credit cards became our New Year’s Resolution after Christmas last year.

Of course, there is such a thing as good debt, such as paying for a mortgage that creates home equity – which after a period of time allows homeowners to sell their house at a nice profit if the housing market is right for homeowners to sell their home. Right now, the housing market sucks due to the economy, so there’s no way we’d be able to sell our house even if we wanted to, at least not for the kind of money we’d want and need to get for it.

Anyway, in order to help us meet our goals of getting out of debt completely, we made the tough decision to really tighten our financial “belt” so to speak and focus our time and energies on paying off all credit cards and loans as quickly as possible. One debt-inducing expense each year has been the amount of money that is often spent buying Christmas presents for everyone on our xmas list. We are generous gift givers, to a fault.

As the Christmas season rolls around each year, it seems there have been more and more names needing to be added to our Christmas gift list, and something has to give. Between family, friends, adult children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, bosses, co-workers, etc – the gift giving list and available monies has its limits, especially considering our efforts to get out of debt rather than increase our debt.

As much as we’d like to be able to continue buying everyone gifts for Christmas, as well as gifts for those we haven’t bought for in awhile, getting out of debt has to be given first priority. We’re not getting any younger either. Call it selfish if you wish, but we’re focusing on ourselves and our needs, for a change.

Getting out of debt once and for all means creating and sticking to a tight budget and not creating new debt, so that any and all remaining income from our jobs and money made from being a freelance writer and blogger goes to paying down debt until there is a zero balance on any and all credit cards.

“Getting out of debt on your own” means we are doing this on our own, rather than trusting our money and credit history to possible debt consolidation scams and schemes we hear so much about it on the news and online. A friend of mine was kind enough to buy Dave Ramsey’s book called The Total Money Makeover along with the accompanying Total Money Makeover Workbook as a gift for Grandpa and I to help us in our efforts to get out of debt the smart way.

Getting Out Of Debt Blogs

I’ve been reading many of the top personal finance blogs found online for quite some time now and will continue to do so. There are hundreds of “get out of debt” blogs online, with helpful tips about easy ways to reduce debt quickly, written by knowledgeable and experienced financial experts. Many of my favorite personal finance blogs are authored by people paying off debt just like you and I, who are “blogging away debt” and explaining their journey to a debt-free life on their personal finance blogs, for free.

We don’t need consumer credit counseling help either, and there are a lot of scams regarding those too, so thanks but no thanks. Creating a budget that we can and will stick to isn’t rocket science. Coming up with some easy and simple ways to pay down credit card bills isn’t hard either.

We’re eating out less. We’re watching rented movies at home instead of spending money at the movie theater and on expensive snacks. I quit smoking and the money saved by not buying cigarettes goes towards paying down credit card debt. Brown bagging lunches, instead of eating lunch at restaurants, creates a sizable savings each week that goes towards paying off debt.

We’re also creating a grocery budget, which will help to eliminate needless spending at the grocery store on things we really don’t need to be eating. The fact that we’ve set a goal of losing some weight over the next few months will also help reduce our grocery bill too, since we won’t be spending nearly as much money on snacks and junk foods. We’re well on our way towards getting out of debt, having already paid off a couple credit cards so far, and there’s no stopping us now.

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It’s The Thought That Counts Means What Exactly?

Grandma — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:55:48 +0000

I’ve heard the phrase “it’s the thought that counts” in regards to gift giving for so many years, you might think I actually buy into what that rather famous quote means. But I’m not sure I really believe that it’s the thought that counts rather than the price tag and quantity of gifts given at Christmastime or Birthdays or any other special occasion or holiday.

Call me Scrooge, but Christmas this year is going to be unlike previous Christmases because Grandpa and I have had it up to here with ungrateful, unappreciative, selfish-minded people who seem to think we have SANTA stamped on our foreheads.

Maybe there was a time, many years ago, when buying a gift for someone was based solely on well thought out searches for a gift based on what the person likes and enjoys without much thought about the price tag. That is the kind of Christmas shopping I always enjoyed, putting a lot of thought into whatever gift I chose for someone on our gift list, but just the mere thought of buying Christmas presents this year makes me wonder What the hell for?

If what matters most is the thought process that goes into choosing, buying, wrapping and giving a gift from the heart, then certain people on our annual gift list who shall remain nameless didn’t get the memo. Our usual list of around 20 people or so to buy Christmas gifts for has been reduced to a fraction of that, perhaps to the total count of just 4. Young grandchildren only, with no adults receiving Christmas gifts anymore.

Every Christmas holiday for the last few years has ended up with at least one person asking “Is this all that (insert name) gets?” That indicates that someone is counting the number of gifts received and if that number is not reached, then we haven’t lived up to the expected and anticipated responsibility as generous gift givers. Again, where does it say Santa on my forehead or on Grandpa’s forehead?

Being the primary person who buys or orders gifts during the holiday season, I’ve always put a lot of thought into the gifts purchased for each and every person on our gift list. We don’t own a money tree and we have our own bills, debts and expenses to pay off, and it has become obvious that the supposed “thought” of gift giving (at least for some) really means we’re expected to give generously regardless of our own financial situation.

Of those we used to buy gifts for at Christmas, most of them were very understanding when we let them know that we would not be buying Christmas gifts for adults anymore, but would stick to buying for the grand kids. Others were not so understanding, which as you may have guessed, are for the most part the very ones who have had the audacity to ask “Is this all that so-and-so gets?”

We’re supposed to concern ourselves with their feelings and Christmas wish lists during the holiday season or when Birthdays come around etc. The only two people who know our financial situation are the two people who should and need to know – Grandpa and I. We live in a nice house. So what. We drive nice cars. So what. We worked our butts off for what we have and anyone that allows the thought to cross their minds that we someone “owe” them a certain number of gifts – whether the gifts are inexpensive, cheap as hell, expensive or extravagant gifts just because we’re related in some way needs to take a step back and analyze their attitudes towards us.

We worked our butts off for what we have. We earned what we have from years and years of hard work at our jobs, buying things for ourselves that we wanted and needed with our own money as we could afford. The longer you work at your jobs, the sooner you will discover you can also begin to buy things you want or need because you’re able to afford it. Just because we can afford certain things doesn’t mean you are entitled to receiving a particular number of gifts from us or gifts that cost a certain amount of money, whether it be at Christmastime or any other holiday or special occasion.

We understand money is tight for many people, regardless of the recession or economic situation we’re in right now, and we don’t expect expensive gifts or a certain number of presents from our family or friends. However. If it’s true, that it’s the thought that counts when making decisions about gifts, than the thought shown towards us over the last few years has been nothing but selfishness and unrealistic expectations. Come to think of it – you know that thing about it’s the thought that counts about giving gifts of some kind? Yeah, that thing works both ways, ya know?

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Celebrate Grandparents Day – How to Celebrate National Grandparents Day

Grandma — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:22:47 +0000

Did you celebrate Grandparents Day this year? This year, 2009, marked the 30th anniversary of National Grandparents Day on Sunday, September 13th. According to a recent poll, millions of Americans and Canadians are said to have celebrated Grandparents Day and it made me wonder if the holiday celebrating grandparents is getting the attention it deserves.

Do you celebrate Grandparents Day? What things did you do to celebrate and honor your grandparents or great-grandparents on or near Grandparents Day? Did you visit your grandparents, send them a card, play games, take part in any activities or buy your grandparents a gift at all? It’s common for preschool and elementary schools in the U.S. to participate in making arts and crafts for grandparents, sing songs for and about grandparents, and some grandparents visit their grandchild’s school on the holiday.

Another poll about Grandparents Day showed that many adults have never heard of Grandparents day, don’t know anything about its origin and history, and don’t even know when Grandparents Day is observed. So, when is Grandparents Day and why do we celebrate National Grandparents Day in the first place?

Grandparents Day

Grandparents Day is a special holiday celebrating Grandparents on the first Sunday after Labor Day and is celebrated in the U.S. and Canada, while Grandparents Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom on the first Sunday in October.

Next Grandparents Day Dates in the U.S:

September 12, 2010

September 11, 2011

September 9, 2012

September 8, 2013

Grandparents Day Facts and History:

In 1970, Marian McQuade of Fayette County, W.Va, spearheaded the campaign to have a national Grandparents Day, primarily for lonely elderly patients in nursing homes and shut-ins, but also in hopes of persuading grandchildren to tap into their grandparents vast wisdom, knowledge and experience. McQuade is the mother of fifteen children, grandmother of forty, and great-grandmother of three.

The first presidential proclamation making Grandparents Day a national holiday was issued in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter, and one has been issued every year since then proclaiming the first Sunday after Labor Day as National Grandparents Day.

Grandparents Day Activities

Typical Grandparents Day activities include playing games, singing songs, making arts and crafts with grandparents, giving speeches, reading books or poems, as well as giving a meaningful gift to your grandparents to show your appreciation and love for them. If your grandparents or great-grandparents are still alive, consider yourself fortunate and celebrate the fact that you and your family still has time to enjoy them during the years they have left on this earth.

Considering Grandparents Day songs, the two most popular songs for Grandparents are “The Grandparents’ Song” by Shana Banana (the official theme song of National Grandparents Day) and “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban. The lyrics for these songs are incredible. Those songs are said to be the best grandparent songs but there are many other songs for grandparents to download, play for your grandparents, or as sing along songs for elementary or preschool children to sing for their grandparents.

It should come as no surprise that the role of grandparents has greatly increased over the years, with many grandparents raising grandchildren and being solely responsible for the care and keeping of their children’s children. Grandparent custody of grandchildren has skyrocketed over the years for many reasons, and the number of disabled grandparents caring for their grandchildren whose income is below the poverty level is out of control.

2009 Grandparents Day facts by the U.S. Census Bureau press release include:

6.2 million – The number of grandparents whose grandchildren younger than 18 lived with them in 2007

2.5 million – The number of grandparents responsible for most of the basic needs (i.e., food, shelter, clothing) of one or more of the grandchildren who lived with them in 2007. These grandparents represented about 40 percent of all grandparents whose grandchildren lived with them. Of these caregivers, 1.6 million were grandmothers, and 932,000 were grandfathers

1.8 million – The number of grandparent-caregivers who were married in 2007

1.5 million – The number of grandparents who were in the labor force and also responsible for most of the basic needs of their grandchildren

930,000 – Number of grandparents in 2007 responsible for caring for their grandchildren for at least the past five years

482,000 – Number of grandparents whose income was below the poverty level and who were caring for their grandchildren

732,000 – Number of grandparents with a disability who were caring for their grandchildren

586,000 – Number of grandparents who spoke a language other than English and who were responsible for caring for their grandchildren

$44,469 – Median income for families with grandparent-caregiver householders. If a parent of the grandchildren was not present, the median dropped to $33,453

71% – Among grandparents who cared for their grandchildren in 2007, the percentage who lived in an owner-occupied home

Not only do parents deserve to be recognized and shown appreciation for all they do for their kids, but grandparents need and deserve recognition, gratitude, love and attention, with or without National Grandparents Day being set aside as a holiday.

As with any holiday, commercialism and pressure to buy gifts is over the top, so if you don’t decide to buy gifts for your grandparents, at least put Grandparents Day on your calendar and remember to call, visit or send them a card to let them know you remembered their day.

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Research Your Family Tree, History and Family Genealogy Records

Grandma — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:23:09 +0000

If you don’t know how to research your family tree in order to find genealogy records of your ancestors, or if you want to create your own family genealogy history for your children and grandchildren, there are many ways of finding the ancestry information you are seeking.

Have you ever wondered, What does your family name mean?, or what your family crest looks like? I did and that is just two reasons why genealogy research became a hobby of mine. Thanks to the internet, researching the roots of your family tree has become a lot easier. There are many online resources available to help create your family tree as I have been doing for a few years now, and I now know what my family name means and what my family’s crest looks like.

My family has never been very open and vocal about our family history, and getting the silent treatment anytime I’ve tried to ask questions about my own grandparents or most recent “ancestors” has always bothered me.

I was somewhat nervous as I began tracing my family tree through census records, obituaries, genealogy websites and databases, vital records, cemeteries and death records, because I wondered if I would find some deep dark secret the family wanted kept secret.

No such secrets have been discovered, but since I started an Ancestry family tree and began gathering more information and clues into my family’s past, I’ve discovered living cousins and other relatives I never knew about before. It also came as quite a shock to me when I learned quite by accident that my childhood best friend was actually a cousin, and my friend’s mother was my grandmother’s sister.

Research Your Family Tree

It still seems odd to me that no one in my family ever discussed or mentioned how our families were connected during all the years we spent playing and associating with each other. When I made this shocking discovery, I asked my brothers if they knew we were related to these newfound family members, and they were just as shocked as I was.

Tracing your family tree takes time, effort and determination, but it is doable. Most genealogy experts will tell you to talk to your relatives and gather as much information as possible to help you in your quest to build a family tree or genealogy website.

Unfortunately for me, family hasn’t been very helpful along those lines. I’ve had to become somewhat of an amateur private detective to find information on surnames, maiden names, birthdates, marriage dates, old addresses and phone numbers etc, just to begin building my family genealogy history to pass onto my children and grandchildren.

I want to learn about my grandparents and great-grandparents. I want to know where they lived, how they made a living, what they looked like, what kind of people they were. It was about a year ago that for the very first time in my life, I saw photos of my grandmother and grandfather on my father‘s side of the family, and only because of researching my family’s history. Hopefully I will also find photos of my grandmother and grandfather on my mother’s side, because for some unknown reasons, no such photos were ever on display while I was growing up.

My grandparents on both sides of the family had already died before I was born, so I have never personally experienced the joys of having known or associated with a Grandma or Grandpa. I want to know that, if my grandparents and great-grandparents were alive when I was a little girl, would they have been kind and loving towards me or if they were the old, crabby sort of grandparents who would “shoo” grandchildren away with a swish of their hand.

Family Genealogy Records

I found a lot of information about my family history from online genealogy census records, but you have to be careful to verify records before simply adding the information to your family tree. Some people choose to keep handwritten genealogy records in an old Bible or journal, such as when a baby is born or someone gets married, but over time the records can get lost, burned in a house fire, or simply forgotten.

There are free genealogy search engines that help to find your family tree and some details, but after spending so much time researching via search engines and getting questionable results, I finally broke down and got myself the family tree maker and I’m glad I did. Building my family history became much faster and easier all at the same time.

Once I had added various facts and details to the family genealogy software on my computer, I eventually decided to merge my family tree onto an online tree maker at Ancestry.com. I wish I had known about Ancestry’s family tree tools much sooner, because my genealogy research on the Ancestry website is where I discovered I had relatives I never knew were relatives.

If you’re going to research your family tree, know that the results can sometimes be quite surprising, especially if you end up finding out about some deep dark family secret you weren’t supposed to know about.

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