SuperGramma

When my husband was a boy, he often heard the words “be careful”. I’m afraid I was the same way with my boys. But my daughter encourages my grandson to try new things and doesn’t hinder him with her fearful thoughts. As a result, he is very outgoing and comfortable in new situations – many of which could be intimidating.

Case in point – we all went to visit the Canadian National Exhibition recently. One of the activities was a pizza making workshop. There were about thirty kids involved, as well as parents and grandparents taking pictures of them. Grandson held up his hand to answer questions and participated with the others, even though at four years old, he was one of the youngest involved.

I was really impressed with his self-confidence and ability to interact with everyone.  He is one child who won’t have any trouble starting kindergarten this month. Now if I can just remember to encourage his pursuits, rather than instilling a fear of the unknown. How about your grandkids?  How do you help with their self esteem?

Technorati Tags: children and self confidence, confident grandkids

One of the things we long for as grandparents are the visits from family, especially those cute little grandkids. While it’s an exciting, satisfying time, it can also be exhausting.

In my case, we have a house large enough to have everyone over for dinner. But 15 people, including loud preschoolers and babies, makes for a long night. The kids aren’t old enough to send downstairs. Besides, we want to see them. Unfortunately, the noise and confusion bother my husband and I more now than when we were younger.

Some of my family fly in from a distance away and see one another once or twice a year. So we plan for daily outings, daily meals together, daily confusion – you get the picture. This year the sun decided to go on vacation and send constant rain in its place, so our outings were limited. Our kids are all paying for houses and raising families, so budgets had to be considered as well. Continue reading →

This past weekend, I attended Disney on Ice at the Rogers Centre (Skydome) with my 4 year old grandson. The show was two hours long, with a brief intermission half way. Toward the end, he was starting to get restless, but enjoyed most of it.

The “Cars” sequence was his favorite and was right at the beginning. We wished that part had been longer, but each of the acts was a little bit longer than the one before. Other than “Cars” and “Lion King” it seemed that the program was geared a little more toward the girls, with a lot of princesses and fairies. In fact, there were a number of little girls in the audience dressed up as princesses.

Overall, it was a nice afternoon. Grandson was impressed by all the colours and spectacular lighting and costumes. And of course, he wanted their pricey souvenirs of the event. (Having two grandmothers and mom with him ensured at least some little trinket). He left with a Cars twirly thing that lights up and a plastic sword. No, I didn’t get him anything. I’m not about to compete with the other grandma, so I spoil him when we’re alone.

Tips when you attend: Continue reading →