Do your grandchildren live far from you? Are you missing out on seeing them grow up because you live miles apart? I have an idea for you that can help them feel that they are a part of your life and that can help strengthen your relationship with them. It’s called ‘When I Was Your Age.’

Here’s the deal. Send an e-mail to your grandson or granddaughter. In your message, ask him questions like who his friends are, what is his typical day like, what are his favorite foods, what classes does he have in school, what is his favorite toy, and what pet does he have. Also, ask him to scan a picture of himself (that year’s school picture) and send it to you. (Be sure to print out the scanned picture.)

Call your grandson’s parents (without your grandson knowing) and ask them to tell you a funny experience or two that your grandson has recently had. Or possibly an example of a recent accomplishment (like his soccer team winning a tournament game) or having a 4.0 GPA in school. Or when he showed kindness or did service for someone.

Once you have collected the picture and the information, the fun begins. You are going to create a scrapbook page comparing his life at that moment with your life when you were his age. If you don’t scrapbook, you can just create a document using a word processing program. This page/document will be called ‘When I Was Your Age.’

Divide the page into two columns. In one column, you will put your grandson’s information. In the column opposite his, you will put in your corresponding information.

Start out by gluing his picture in his column. (Or use the adhesive picture corners to attach the picture to the page.) In your column, put a picture of you when you were his age.

Then, depending on the questions that you asked him, write appropriate headings (i.e. favorite food, friends, toys, etc.). In his column, put down the information that he sent you. In your column, put down the corresponding information about you when you were his age. For example, if your grandson wrote that he has a pet dog named Spunky, enter that under the heading for pets. If, when you were his age, your family had a cat named Butterscotch, you would enter that information in your column.

As you write up the experiences that you got from your grandson’s parents, be sure to write in your column about your experiences in that category. If you don’t have a matching experience, mention that and possibly explain why. (Example: your grandson is on a soccer team but you weren’t at his age because there weren’t any teams in your school/city.)

Make two copies of your scrapbook page. Get two scrapbooking binders and some plastic sheet protectors. Put the page (or pages) in the sheet protectors and place a copy in each binder. You can create a title page called ‘When I Was Your Age.’ Send one binder to your grandson. This way, he will be able to compare what he is like with what you were like at his age.

This can become a tradition that he looks forward to. Create one page each year and send to him to put in his binder. This will help bring your hearts together even though many miles might separate you physically.

Keep one binder for yourself at your home. When your grandson comes for a visit, spend a moment or two together going over the pages that you have created. Giggle over how silly your hairdo or the style of your clothing was compared to his. Have him tell you more about his pet or his friends. As you share this information, you can learn more about each other.

If you do a page for all of your grandchildren, put those in your ‘When I Was Your Age’ scrapbook. All of your grandchildren will enjoy seeing each other’s pages — and this can be a favorite book for them to read when they go to grandma’s house.

A grandmother who had a goony looking hairdo in the second grade,
Digi-Gram