Back in October, I ‘met’ Grandma Betsy who live in Phoenix. (At this time of year, my chilly Utah bones would absolutely LOVE to visit her in warm Phoenix!)

She has two grandsons — that do not live nearby.  So, she’s one of those long-distance grandmas.  Rats.  I asked her if she could share some of the things that she does to strengthen her relationship with her grandsons.  Here’s what she said.

“I like drawing pictures while on Skype with them.  They tell me to draw something and I draw a stick figure version (I am not an artist but they don’t care) and then they tell me what to add to it.  It is like show and tell over the Internet.

“When we are Skyping and I tell them I am going to give em a big “squeeze,” we each hug ourselves at the same time and it feels like we are hugging each other.  Now the 3 1/2 year old is kind of “over’ that so I will have to come up with new tricks.

“It is just so hard to stay connected at a distance.

“I use those talking books where you read the story into them and then send it off.  I like it that they can hear my voice.

“When each baby was born, I did one of the Build a Bear animals and recorded my voice in it, telling them “Sweet Dreams and God Bless You – grandma loves you”  something like that.  They love their teddy bears!

“At Christmas, they love making gingerbread houses or gingerbread trains.  I get those already packaged ones for the little ones.  I am looking forward to improving our techniques and designs over the years as they get older.

“My favorite thing to do with them is just BE – - just enjoy wherever THEY are.  I get to become whatever age they are at the moment and view the world through their eyes.  I remember taking the oldest one when he was just 1 1/2 on a walk and he saw the “diggers” – a construction site.  For the next several months, his focus was on construction equipment.  Then, it was the Cicadas and we found every Cicada shell on our walks, counting how many we could find.

“It really is the simple things and just being very focused and attentive to them.”

Thanks so much for sharing, Grandma Betsy!  Enjoy that warm Phoenix weather for me.

I have a countdown clock on my computer ticking down the days until my retirement. If the economy gets better (come on, folks, work with me here), I will be retiring in a mere 1,051 days.  However, I have just found a very compelling reason to retire sooner.  Like right now.  This very day.  Sheesh, if I had my way, I’d walk out of work this very moment with nary a backward glance.

So, what’s the big deal, you ask?  Beatles Rockband, that’s what.

My tightwad little soul could never justify spending the money for a Wii and for Guitar Hero, even though I loved playing Guitar Hero.  Until, that is, my boss made a profound comment to me the other day.

I was lamenting the cost of the system and that at my age I ought to be socking that money away money for retirement instead of spending it on frivolous things like a Wii.  “What?” he scoffed.  “So you put away the $400 dollars and in five years, what do you have?  $100 dollars, that’s what.  You gotta enjoy life, Nina.”

Enjoy life indeed.

Since it was my birthday this week (aren’t birthdays a good reason to fecklessly blow wads and wads of money?), I finally said yes.  Yes, let’s buy a Wii.  Yes, let’s get Rockband.  But it has to be the Beatles version.  And, so we did.

Last night we set it up and played it.  Four hours later, my husband was snug asleep in bed.  My fingers were still clenched around the guitar.  Just one more song, sweetie.  Then I’ll come to bed.

As the digital clock virtually struck midnight, I begrudgingly stopped.  The neighbors were glad because their dogs ceased their howling in duet with my singing.

So here’s my idea for all of you cool grandmothers who read my blog.  I think it would be a great investment to buy a sports Wii and the Beatles Rockband.  Just think of all of the fun you can have bonding with your grandchildren as you make music together!  When (if) you ever tire of playing the music, you can enjoy the sports games.  (It’s a good thing that the bowling alley is a virtual one because I had a tendency to fling my bowling ball too high and it would crash into the lane.  There would have been volcanic craters if I were bowling in a physically real bowling alley.)

There are other games that you could get for your Wii.  My daughter has the Mario Kart and she says it is great fun.

Assuming that your grandchildren do not already have a Wii and/or a Rockband, this could be the cat’s meow.  You’d be a rocking cool grandma that your grandkids would love to visit and play with.  Even teen-aged grandchildren, or those in their thirties.

Rock on!

I recently ‘met’ Grandma Lisa.  (I met her through her comment to this site.)  She has a 16 month old grandson who lives in Arizona while she lives in Colorado.  I asked her to share what she does to strengthen her relationship with her grandson since he lived so far away.  Here is what she said:

“I have to admit that it’s a little hard to come up with things to do. One thing I’ve started is choosing an off-the-wall month of national designation (i.e. National Squirrel Awareness Month) and sending him something related to it (I found a silly book about a squirrel for the October one). I plan to continue that. Also, I’ve gone around and gathered a bunch of fall leaves to bring to him when we visit next weekend — or I’d be mailing them if we weren’t going to visit — because he lives in Arizona, where there’s little to no change in the foliage for fall. Other than that, my daughter and I fit in as much Skype time on the computer as possible so he can see me and I can see him. And I talk to my daughter on the phone nearly every day and usually get to say hello to him then, as well.”

I love the off-the-wall month idea!  And taking fall leaves to him.  How wonderful!  Thanks so much for sharing your ideas.

Take some time to check out Lisa’s website Grandma’s Briefs — especially her Recipe box.  I ask you, my fellow Americans (and all other nationalities who read my site) who can resist her Chocolate Chip Dip?)

In April 2008, I wrote about creating your own National Holiday. If there’s a month that you can’t find a wacky official  national month holiday, you might want to check out these ideas for creating your own national holiday.

The grocery store is to the working woman what the water cooler is to the business office.

This morning as I grocery shopped, I ran into a friend that I hadn’t seen in a long time and hadn’t talked to in forever.  We talked. And talked.  My frozen whipped topping thawed.  My raw pink pot roast browned with age. We talked.  It felt good.  When we bid each other good-bye, it seemed as if we had only spent mere moments in conversation.

Part of our conversation dealt with grandchildren.  (Does a conversation ever go by that a grandmother doesn’t somehow bring up her wonderful grandchildren?)

Denise mentioned two things that she did to connect to her grandchildren who lived out of state.  She said that she bought lots of yellow envelopes.  Bright lemon yellow ones.  She uses them when she sends letters or cards to her grandchildren.  That way, her grandchildren can easily see when they have mail and they know immediately that it is from Grandma Denise.  I really liked that idea.  And not just because my favorite color is yellow.

Denise also said that she uses perfume to help make a connection with her grandchildren.  She wears the same kind when they visit so they connect that smell with her.  Then, when she sends a birthday box, she makes sure the scent of her perfume is in the box.  She didn’t say exactly what she did.  Maybe she adds a spritz to the inside of the box or to the wrapping paper. (You could do the same thing with the yellow envelopes so their cards and letters would smell lovely, too.)

I think that is an absolutely great idea!!  And it is such an easy thing to do.  Everyone knows that smells trigger recollections of experiences — and what a wonderful thing it is to have a (good) smell remind a grandchild of a loving grandmother!