A little while after our daughter told us she was expecting a little girl, the perfect name for my little granddaughter came into my head.  Instantly.  Just like that.  Without any conscious pre-thinking, pondering, mulling it over, or really giving it any attention.  Let me explain how the name came about.

I vaguely remember my paternal great-grandfather.    However, I never knew my paternal great-grandmother because they divorced long before I was born.  Her name was Ada.

My name is Nina (pronounced with a long ‘I’ sound like the number 9).

In the late 1960s, Johnny Carson did a monologue on his TV show where he talked about inflation and in particular about inflation of words.  Instead of everyone, it would be everytwo.  Anyone was anytwo.  Wonderful would be twoderful.  My older sister decided that my name should reflect word inflection and she started calling me Tena (as in the number ten with an ‘uh’ at the end).  That nickname stuck with me for several years.

I tell you all of these names because in my moment of wild inspiration, I came up with the most adorable, most unique, most . . . most . . .  most unusual name for our granddaughter-to-be:  Aida-Nina-Tena.

Isn’t that the most spectacular inspiration for a name — in all of it’s hyphenated glory?  I was so pleased with myself for being so spontaneously creative.  (I don’t think I would have been able to come up with that name in a million years if I were intentionally trying to be so cutesy and clever!)

I couldn’t wait to tell my daughter my suggestion.

She didn’t like it.  I don’t understand why.

She named her daughter Natalie.  Natalie is a nice name.  But it is so, so, so uncreative!  (Isn’t the above picture of her cute?)

Names are so important.  And that brings me to today’s topic:  my first give-away!!!

Here’s the deal.  Make a comment here on my site about one of the following options:

1.  An interesting ‘baby naming experience’ like I had with my daughter   (I knew a young lady whose husband’s family had a tradition that the first male baby of that level of generation absolutely HAD to name the son a specific name.  She was expecting that first male baby of that level of generation, and she HATED the name she was expected to name her son!  Such a dilemma.  She moved before her baby was born so I never knew what she did about that situation.)

2.  Or, tell about a special name that was given to one of your grandchildren.

I will use Random.org to select a winner of my give-away.

And what is my give-away?  The winner will receive a 25% off discount on a legacy name document from Baby Names Research©.  This beautiful site is run by Maura Hanrahan.  She will research the origin, meaning, and history of your grandchild’s name, write a 400 word essay about the name, and print it on archival paper. The end product is beautiful and ready for framing if you so desire.  You can select from a variety of colors, patterns, and fonts.

This legacy document would make a very special, unique gift that will last a lifetime for that special grandchild in your life.  It could be given to the baby when it is born, christened, on a significant birthday, for Christmas, or any other special occasion.

The give-away will close at midnight Mountain Daylight Time on Friday April 2.  I will announce the winner on Saturday April 3.

You don’t have to make a long comment.  The purpose is just to make a comment so that your name to be entered in the drawing.

So, quick!  Make a comment — you just might be the lucky winner!

My sister-in-law, Nadine, wrote to me about some of the things that she does for her grandchildren. She said:

“One thing that I always do is give each of our grandsons a book for Christmas, so that it encourages them to read. For Thanksgiving, I took round sugar cookies to their home and we decorated them to look like a turkey using frosting and candy corns. They loved doing that and eating the cookies. In fact Logan (who is 2 years old) kept eating the candy off as fast as we were putting them on.

“We usually go to Disneyland (they live in California . . . ) with our grandchildren for a couple of days once a year and stay in a motel close by. But now that they are in school it is harder to do because we usually do it the day after Labor Day when it is less crowded.”

Thank you for sharing, Nadine!

I thought that I would link to the recipe for my soft sugar cookies in case you missed it.  You can use this recipe to make tasty sugar cookies that you can decorate for any holiday — or to make for just whenever.

You know, there are two things that I am noticing that is quite common among grandmothers:

• Grandma = cookies!! Many grandmothers make cookies with their grandchildren. That’s wonderful. (I’m going to do that for sure.)
• Grandmas like to give books to their grandchildren to foster an interest in reading

I don’t recall making cookies with my grandmother. But, when we did go to visit, she would have strawberry flavored soda pop and she would make us a strawberry float. That was really a treat for us since we never had that flavor of soda pop at home. I’m thinking that grandma’s could have almost any type of food and, as long as the grandchildren know they are loved by grandma, the grandchildren will love the food grandma fixes!  Except maybe beets . . .

Enjoy!
Digi-Gram

My friend Denise, from Payson, Utah, shared her ideas about Grandma Camp which were great ideas for great fun! She has shared more of her ideas with me. She said:

“Relax. Don’t be uptight all the time. Always make your lap available. Be willing to take your grandchild on your lap for a hug, a snuggle, a chat, a story, or for a loving moment. Don’t choreograph every event or gathering because it never works out the way you planned. (Note from Digi-Gram: And, when it doesn’t work out like you planned, don’t get uptight about it!)

“When you have your grandchildren over for an extended time, you ought to have a family information sheet for each of your grandchildren. The information sheet should include things such as insurance information, allergies, medications, doctors name and number. It would be a good idea, too, to have a release for treatment in the event you need to take a grandchild to the hospital. (Which I hope you never have to do!!)

“Another suggestion is to get the schedule of your grandchildren’s baseball or basketball or football games. That way you will know when they are. Then, you have the option of going to the game if you are available.

“Also, be definite about your cookie jar rule. Does it stay off limits until after dinner? When and how often can the grandchildren get a cookie? Also, you need to let your grandchildren know where they can eat their treats or have food in your home. If you don’t want them eating food in the living room, the grandchildren need to know this. Make sure the grandchildren respect the grandma’s home. (Note from Digi-Gram: Discuss this with your kids so that when your children are at your home with their children, they will support you in the rules of your home. The reverse of this applies, too. Know the rules of your children’s home and support them in their rules.)

“Another thing. If the parents (your children) have specific rules about what they don’t want their kids to eat, grandma needs to honor that. (From Digi-Gram: For example, if they don’t want their kids to chew gum, you need to respect that and not give your grandchildren gum. Or, if the parents don’t want your grandchildren to have lots of sweets and sugar, make sure that you don’t gorge your grandchildren with sugary goodies.)

“We publish a birthday list for all of the family to have. We also publish a family events and traditions page. For example, we always watch the 4th of July fireworks from our son’s porch. We go down to our property the first week-end in April, and the first week-end in October for a camp out. We always have a bowling tournament in February with prizes and trophies. We give prizes to the ones who bowled a high score without using bumpers, to the person with the high score using bumpers, and the person with the highest score for a series of games. The overall winner gets a trophy that is a clock with a bowling pin. That prize gets rotated to the next year’s winner.

“I had an agreement with my mother that worked out well for us. If I needed a babysitter and my mother was available to babysit that would be fine. But if my mother didn’t feel like babysitting, she could say no and I would not be offended.

“I also want to leave my grandchildren my will of ethics. I want them to know that I support local politics, that I am honest and work hard and that I will follow through with what I said I would do. I want to instill in them my religious beliefs. And most important, I want them to know that family is very important.”

Wonderful ideas, Grandma Denise. Thank you so much for sharing them!

Digi-Gram

Darlene T. from Salem, Utah, wrote to me to share some of her ideas about being a grandmother. She said:

“One thing that I learned from observance is just to love the grandkids. Our job is not to discipline — just to love. That doesn’t mean that we can’t teach or set right examples, but we don’t have to make discipline the main focus. My mother tried to just discipline and some of my kids ended up with bad vibes. So just love them.

“One thing that I do is to have a “birthday dinner” for them at their birthday time. They can choose the entire menu, get to use a red plate, and get sung to. I do buy them a gift, but I don’t give it to them at their birthday dinner which I have on the Sunday before their birthday. Everyone is excited to sing and see what their menu is. Because of this year being a little different (note: Darlene fell while skiing and broke her hip), my one granddaughter did not get her birthday dinner. When she and her mom (my daughter) were helping me shower and get dressed when I got home from the hospital, she mentioned that she does not feel like she was 9 years old. It dawned on me that she has not had her “Oreo” cake that she requested and has not been sung to. Her birthday is still not complete.

“Another thing that I have tried to do but have not done every year is holding “Grandma’s Summer Camp.” At first, I let little ones in diapers come, but now with so many (we now have 28 grandchildren) I only invite those that are potty-trained and those who can swim. (Note: Darlene has a swimming pool at her home.) We do lots of fun things such as horseback riding, swimming, and participating in the Spanish Fork children’s parade, which means we have to make a float. One year my 5 year old grandson walked a llama in the parade. (Note: Darlene and her husband have an assortment of unusual animals and that was where her grandson had access to a llama!)

“I ‘baby-sit’ every Tuesday for my daughter that works that one day a week. I really look forward to it because all I really do is just pick up Justin from kindergarten at noon, and then we do errands. He gets in the car and says, “How many stops, Grandma?” I try to make them fun stops. He likes Costco, going to a candy store, and of course Carl’s Jr. Then I go to their home and help the older kids with homework especially the 2nd grader with spelling words. We just make a game of it and have a great time.

“But as I said earlier, the main thing is just to love and accept them. I wish I would have done that with my own kids- — just give undivided attention and make games of it. Maybe that is why grandmas are good.”

Ideas that I loved:

• Having a special red plate for the birthday grandchild to use for the birthday dinner
• Making a float and participating in a children’s parade
• Grandma’s summer camp
• Making errands fun when you have a grandchild accompanying you

Well, I’m off to buy a special red plate!
Digi-Gram