Here are five gifts we suggest you consider giving for Grandparents Day, coming up on Sunday, Sept. 8:
1) A home-made card.
Sure Hallmark may say it more eloquently, but nothing comes close to your kids making a card. If they are too old to draw pretty butterflies, how about just pasting a family photo on the cover? Home-made cards rule in retirement villages and find permanent homes on refrigerator doors. The ones from Hallmark get relegated to the drawer with last year's holiday cards, never to be looked again until they are tossed out.
Sure Hallmark may say it more eloquently, but nothing comes close to your kids making a card. If they are too old to draw pretty butterflies, how about just pasting a family photo on the cover? Home-made cards rule in retirement villages and find permanent homes on refrigerator doors. The ones from Hallmark get relegated to the drawer with last year's holiday cards, never to be looked again until they are tossed out.
2) Your time.
Nothing beats spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. And do it on their terms. Yes, you may prefer to throw a big bbq and invite the neighbors and other friends over, but that makes it more about you and less about Grandma and Grandpa. How do you know what the grandparents want to do? You ask them, that's how.
Nothing beats spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. And do it on their terms. Yes, you may prefer to throw a big bbq and invite the neighbors and other friends over, but that makes it more about you and less about Grandma and Grandpa. How do you know what the grandparents want to do? You ask them, that's how.
3) Listen.
Sometimes we treat our elderly relatives like problems that need to be managed. We stop seeking their wisdom and engage with them on a very superficial level. They, in turn, tell us what hurts them. They complain about the loud woman next door, the rude desk clerk at the doctor's. Make Grandma happy and ask her opinion on something. Ask what she would do about some situation you are facing. And listen to her answer.
Sometimes we treat our elderly relatives like problems that need to be managed. We stop seeking their wisdom and engage with them on a very superficial level. They, in turn, tell us what hurts them. They complain about the loud woman next door, the rude desk clerk at the doctor's. Make Grandma happy and ask her opinion on something. Ask what she would do about some situation you are facing. And listen to her answer.
4) Get them on Skype and/or teach them to text.
The Internet helps shorten the distance between us and our older relations. And if grandparents are willing to meet the teen-agers half-way, communications will be more frequent and pleasant. A Skype call where you can see the caller far surpasses a phone call where you are talking to a receiver. And a quick text -- "how'd you do on that chem test you were worried about?" -- brings Granny closer into your teen's life.
The Internet helps shorten the distance between us and our older relations. And if grandparents are willing to meet the teen-agers half-way, communications will be more frequent and pleasant. A Skype call where you can see the caller far surpasses a phone call where you are talking to a receiver. And a quick text -- "how'd you do on that chem test you were worried about?" -- brings Granny closer into your teen's life.
5) Make a family video.
Encourage your kids to ask Granddad to talk about his life as a kid and make a video of his answer. It's a memory you will cherish forever.
Encourage your kids to ask Granddad to talk about his life as a kid and make a video of his answer. It's a memory you will cherish forever.
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