Intermittent Grandparenting

Here’s Abby and Taryn (aka Cindy Lou Who) at the park that’s within walking distance of their house.

For those of you who remember our ill-fated June trip to see the grand daughters and family in South Dakota last June (the one with 9 month old Taryn leaping out of the high chair and Abby finding the rattlesnake in the back yard) you’ll be pleased to know there was no such excitement on this trip.

Nor did the December weather do its worst and the pipes back home didn’t freeze after all (my wee-hours dread).

As soon as we got to her house, Abby (almost 8 now!) had to show me a story she was writing on the computer. She is excited about creative things and I think has a good bit of art in her. I suggested we take her story and put it online. We’ll work collaboratively on it over time, and add pictures to illustrate it, too.

In the process, we can create together, gently and toward a purpose meaningful to her, on punctuation and spelling, on storytelling and sentence structure, and on how to use the Internet to share your creations.

I wish I’d had someone to guide me into writing and art when I was young.

Grandparents–even those who live a thousand miles away from their grandchildren–can serve the role of guide and mentor. It’s never been easier with the tools we have now, even though a virtual hug just is not the same as the ones we got in Rapid City just a few days ago.

By the way, be sure and visit Grandparents.com where you can find a wealth of resources and ideas of things to do and places to go with your grand children and stories of how the generations live together creatively.