As a grandmother, what are your uses — beyond wiping drool off a teething baby’s chin or giving birthday money to a teen-aged grandson?  If you’re not quite sure, read 41 Uses for a Grandma by Harriet Ziefert.  It’s a hoot.

My son and daughter-in-law gave me this book as a belated birthday present.  And I was totally delighted with it.  Totally!  I love the ‘uses’ — a time keeper, a security blanket, a hand warmer, a page turner, a ballet barre.   My favorite is a monkey bar.

I also love the drawings. Maybe my favorite use (a monkey bar) is my favorite because I absolutely love the accompanying drawing.

I recommend that you buy this book — and then read it to your grandchildren when they visit.  It will be great bonding time together.

I have found a site that I just HAVE to share with you.  But let me warn you, it could get costly . . .

Perpetual Kid has the sub-title ‘entertain your inner child.’  I couldn’t agree more.  After just a few minutes browsing, I found a plethora of items that I wanted to buy.  They have novelty bandages — pickles, crime scene, Hello Kitty, bunny, cowboy, eyeball, fairies, and toast bandages.  When bumps and bangs bring blood, you’ll need to have some of these fun bandages on hand.

They have a heart egg molder so you can cook a heart shaped egg, a food face dinner plate (where you place food over the face on the plate to make hair, a  beard, a nose, a hat, a mouth), a French toast stamp (stamps the image of the Eiffle Tower on your French toast), and an airplane shaped fork.

And last but not least, I need to talk about toilet paper.  Do you have a grandchild that is going through potty training?  Getting some fun toilet paper from Just Toilet Paper can add fun to the whole experience.  (You might want to share this site with your grandchildren’s parents.)  Some of the toilet paper designs that they sell include hearts, lips, keyboard, music, paw prints, camouflage, rocks, soccer balls, eyes, frogs, penguins, and aliens.  Who ever thought that wiping a messy bottom could be so fun?

I recently read a posting on the GaGa Sisterhood’s site about a book of the month club that a grandmother can have with her grandchildren — especially those who live far away.  Fabulous idea!!

In this recession, a grandmother may feel a little strapped for funds if she has very many grandchildren and wants to do this with all of them.  So, I’ve thought of a variation that would be inexpensive and easy to do.  Have a virtual book club!

Together, grandma and grandchildren determine which book they read.  (I suggest that grandma pre-reads the book so that she can make sure it is appropriate.)  They check the book out at their own local library and read it during the month.  Then, create a private blog where you and your grandchildren post your thoughts about the book and respond to others’ comments.  (Be sure to have a catchy name for the blog.  That adds to the fun.)

If you’re not that technical (but come on, really, it isn’t that hard to create a blog!) grandma can call on the phone or use Skype to discuss the book with her grandchild.

Another idea is to have the grandma write a ’round-robin’ e-mail sharing her thoughts.  She sends it to one grandchild.  That grandchild sends it to the next one.  The last grandchild in the book club sends it back to grandma and then grandma sends it out one last time so that everybody can read everybody else’s comments.

Or, maybe grandma could get a binder and print up the e-mails from the grandchildren and insert them in the binder.  (For your scrapbookers out there, you could go wild with this!!)  Then, when the grandchildren come for a visit (or grandma visits them), they snuggle on the couch together and read what everyone has written.  (This would be a fun record to look back on through the years.)

Here’s a starter list of books that would be great to read with your ‘young adult’ reading grandchildren:

• A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel (non-fiction)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Barrows (fiction)
• Speak by Laurie Halze Anderson (fiction)
• The Astonishing LIfe of Octavian Nothing, Vol I and II by M.T. Anderson (fiction — and this would be for older readers as it is quite sophisticated in the writing style)
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (fiction — especially fun if you’ve read Jane Eyre)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart (my favorite, favorite book!)
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen (non-fiction — and for older readers)
• The Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan (fiction — for older readers)
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (fiction — for older readers)
• Book Thief by Markus Zusak (fiction — another favorite, favorite — for older readers)

Even though this idea is meant to be one way to connect with far away grandchildren,  it could also be used with grandchildren who live nearby.  For your book club meeting, you could invite them over to your house, talk about the book, eat sweet treats, and have a great old time!

One of the blessings of the Internet is ‘finding’ new friends. Sally Wendkos Olds is one of those great Internet finds for me.  I ‘met’ her quite a few months ago and have enjoyed our occasional e-mail exchange and reading her blog.  She’s a remarkable woman!

Sally has three daughters, Nancy, Jennifer, and Dorrie.  She has five grandchildren: Anna and Nina (who live only 2 hours away from her in New Jersey) and Stefan, Maika, and Lisa (who live far, far away in Germany).  And, Sally and her husband have been married for 52 years!  What a great example that is to us.

Sally has written 12 books and a plethora of articles.  She has conducted numerous interviews of Holocaust survivors and of men and women who served in the Allied forces during World War II. She worked with the Oral History Department at Columbia University and interviewed people affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center.

She recently published the book Super Granny and sent me a copy.  I wrote notes to myself in the margins.  I underlined things.  I circled things.  I highlighted things.  I put exclamation marks in the margins.  (How can a person read a book without a pen . . .?)  Now, I have a whole new arsenal of ideas of activities to do with my grandchildren.  (I just can’t wait for Spencer to get big enough — and for our daughter to have her baby and for THAT grandbaby to grow up . . . )

Reading Super Granny felt like I was sitting at the kitchen table having a warm and personal conversation with Sally.  By the end of the book, I felt that not only did I know Sally better but I also became friends with the grannies that were highlighted in the book.

After reading the book, I wanted to interview Sally and post the interview here.  The other night, we chatted via Skype.  She shared a little about herself, her background, how she decided to write the book, and some experiences that she has had with her grandchildren.  (I’m amazed that she ran a marathon at age 60 and one New Year’s Eve she jogged around Central Park with her grandson, Stefan.  Like I said, she’s remarkable!)

So, without further audieu, here’s the interview.  It lasts about 20 minutes.  It might take a moment or two to load so have patience.  (I say that tongue-in-cheeck becuase I’m not a patient person . . .)  Because I used Skype, Sally sounds like she’s far away.  Next time, I’ll try another technology to record the interviews to see if I can get better quality sound!

Click here to listen to the interview: Super Granny by Sally Wendkos Olds

Sorry I haven’t posted anything lately.  My husband and I took a little jaunt to Jamaica for eight days.  Loved the sun.  Loved the sea.  Loved the sand.  Loved the snorkeling. (Did not love coming back to the cold and the 10 inches of snow we received tonight . . .)

The food was really interesting: calaloo and codfish (what in the world is calaloo??), chicken and pumpkin soup, braised liver, fish tea, fried bammy (pray tell what is bammy?), cornmeal porridge, pickled mackerel, and boiled yams. Their steamed garden vegetables were fabulous (carrots, beans, squash, zucchini), great omelets, wonderful fresh squeezed orange juice, and a delicious custard that they served with every meal.

One meal Craig asked for a Coke and I asked for a Dr. Pepper. When they came, Craig had the normal soda pop. Me? I had what looked like tomato juice with lots of pepper. Thinking it was like V-8 juice I took a sip. The Dr. Pepper turned out to be a Bloody Mary . . .

My students challenged me to get my hair braided in corn rows while in Jamaica.  I was hesitant.  They took up a collection to help pay for it.  My boss donated to the cause.  Co-workers donated to it.  A professor donated to it.

What was I to do?  I couldn’t let them down. I had my hair braided.

Did I feel funny going to church with my hair braided?  Did I feel funny riding the public transportation to work with my unusual hairdo?  Did I feel funny on campus today at work?  Yes, yes, and yes.  How much longer will I keep it this way?  I’m not sure.  It sure is easy to fix in the morning.  Just floof my bangs and I’m done with my hair!

I took a book along to read for those hours waiting in the airport and for lounging in the sun: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau Banks by E. Lockhart.  I must say that I absolutely LOVED that book!  (It was one that Stephanie Ford recommended in the video I posted last time.)

I made sure I shook all of the sand out from between the pages.  We mustn’t tell the librarian at the university that I took the book with me to Jamaica now must we??

If you have a granddaughter that is in her early teens and especially a sophomore in high school, I think this is a book that you ought to give her.  It tells of the usual angst of ‘do I look pretty’ to ‘will I be accepted by friends at school’ to . . . well . . . to the main theme of the book.  (I shan’t give it away because I don’t want to spoil the plot!)

As I’m trying to get caught up with laundry, the 250 e-mail messages from work, and from the lack of sleep (because of the beads in my hair feel like I’m sleeping on boulders), I hope to get back to making regular posts.