Tag Archives: Grandparent

Apr 12 2012

Musical Moments

First band concert by kids

First band concert by kids (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My grandson brought home a flyer for the school concert this week.  It delicately (In Giant Bold Print)reminded me that this was Music in Our Schools Month, and offered a free concert for my listening pleasure.

Now, I’m not sure when the first (or last) school concert you attended was, but I sure remember my last concert.  The oldest grandchild was 9 and had second chair for a rendition of “Oats, Peas, and Beans” on the Violin.  I can assure you it was a phenomenal treat to hear the sheer artistry of the composition played in the acoustically designed cafeteria as I sat on a  lunch table bench labeled with a piece of computer paper stating “peanut free” secured with packing tape directly beneath my behind.  You may now breathe a sigh of relief that I did not record it at the time and will not be linking to a site that you can share the experience with me over and over.

However, I do think music is a critically important part of a growing child’s education at any age, and some of my favorite suggestions for introducing music are below:

Infants through Toddlerhood:

Singing favorite songs over and over.  Before they are even six months old, infants can benefit from music.  My daughter, a speech and hearing therapist, shares that developmental research has shown that mapping the auditory cortex helps develop pitch and encourages spatial-temporal abilities… Who would have guessed? The Next Bieber can be in your arms right now!  And humming Row, Row, Row the Boat is just the jumpstart he needed.

Sitting until 3 Years:

Pots and Pans from under your sink.  That’s right – a spoon, a Tupperware container with a lid, and a metal pot makes an excellent drum set.  And the basics of  banging a spoon on your pan improves hand-eye coordination! So if it has become clear by the time your grandchild is toddling he will not be able to carry a tune, banging the pots and pans may help him become a better athlete.

3 Years to 5 Years:

Musical Games like “Ring around the Rosey” or “Patty Cake“.  Clapping, waving, jumping, dancing, and singing along reinforces thinking skills like visualizing and forethought.  According to my grandson’s Physical Therapist, musical games assist tremendously in focusing young children’s energy for five or six minutes at a time on gross motor skill development and coordination.  I have witnessed his receptivity to learning is much better when music is included in his therapy.

6 Years to 10 Years:

The Radio.  If you are not able to introduce your grandchild to learning to play an instrument, due to lack of resources at school or lack of personal opportunities, do not let that discourage you from continuing to take advantage of the many free musical options.  Introduce your grandchild to many styles of music, not just the current pop trend.  Share your favorite teen beats, my grandchildren love to Doo Whop.

This is the point at which your grandchild will begin to notice that music has structure.  Most published research on music and improved academics originates from this age group, and not just because this is the age group where testing becomes popular since kids are in school: math and reading is about patience and patterning. Listening to a song long enough to start singing along with the lyrics helps develop the longer attention spans needed for reading, and being able to repeat the rhymes and inflection in a chorus is a blend of concentration skills and patterning found in math.

If your local school has a music concert this month, and it is free, you may want to venture out, if only to have an idea of what you are in for later on or to show community support for the program so it is still there when your Mini Mozart has an opportunity to participate.  But if not, or if you prefer to keep a little closer to home with the little ones, I hope you can find a way to put a little music into your day.

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Mar 14 2012

The Value of Parent Networking

Networking is a word most often associated with work.  I had a professional network, as I’m sure you did as well. In my day it was kept in a Rolodex.  Now, the computer serves as my greatest network.  If I have a question or need a solution, or a fun idea for an activity, I pop something into Google and in a matter of a few seconds… Viola! Up pops more information then I could have ever guessed I needed.

Starting out spending my days with my Grandchildren has been so much fun, I almost forgot the value of a great network.  Until I took my granddaughter and grandson to the park to play on the swings the other day and saw something I forgot existed: an entire group of moms and their toddler-aged children and babies, also playing.  And I flashed back to the days of mommy-and-me.

Most of those moms had the same challenges I have: diapers to change, 60 pounds of strollers and formula, and more than one child going in opposite directions.  They had great solutions to everyday problems: like how to push three kids on the swing when you only have two hands. But they lacked my generational experience: my history, my grown children, my opinions and observations collected over a lifetime that are now being re-defined as I participate in raising children all over again.  And it occurred to me that I wanted to belong to that network, but I also wanted one of my own that faced some of the special challenges I face: how to tell my daughter something may be wrong with her son and she needs him to go to the doctor; how to communicate my concerns without stepping on toes; how to spoil my grandchildren with the treats I would have given my own kids, but not break family rules; how to reconcile discipline in my house with the discipline in theirs.

I am not unique.  The facts of grandparenting in today’s world suggest that:

One out of every twelve children lives in a household headed by a relative other than their parent.

Approximately six million children nationwide are being raised by their grandparents or relatives.

Grandparentheaded households are the fastest growing type of family in the United States.

Many of these special families have come together because of difficult family situations such as substance abuse, divorce, parental incarceration, or similar circumstances.

A significant number of grandparents and relatives have informal custody and do not know how this will affect their ability to care for and make decisions on behalf of the children in their care.

So the playground is a great place to start, and believe me, I will be back once a week to enjoy the company I have discovered.  But I don’t want to forget the value of the internet and the many opportunities a virtual network offers, and I am looking for others.  Please share your favorites, I am sharing two of my favorites below.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

The Parent’s Desk

 

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Mar 5 2012

Communication Is Key

English: Cell phone icon

Image via Wikipedia

Question: How do we keep communication strong with our tween Grandchildren, even when we are generations apart and live hundreds of miles away?

Answer: It’s a Zombie Apocalypse!  No, really, it is.

Certainly we are not a technologically challenged family.  We have had and used computers from the time that 8 GIGs took up half an office.  You could actually walk though the server columns.  My daughter remembers when the internet was DOS chat rooms.  Those days are definitely remnants of the past.  Now, you only have to buy a cell phone and activate the service and you can access the web from anywhere, emailing, blogging, surfing away your life. To think, we are only sixty years apart, but I never dreamed as a child that I could call someone without telephone wires, and my youngest grandchildren will probably never even know what a DVD or CD is, they will stream all their movies and music and might never carry a textbook if Apple gets it’s way.

That said, the cost of these services can be prohibitive, but most sixth graders have cell phones, and my grandson has an Iphone.  So my husband and I recently jumped into the world of Iphones too, and wow, are we ever amazed that we lived without them.

If you happen to have one of these phones, and you also happen to have a tween or teen that has one of these phones (or an Ipad or iPod, or a Droid) that has apps, this is your chance to connect with them every day.  Get a shared gaming app they play with their friends, like Zombie Farm or Words with Friends, and suggest that you two start-up a little friendly competition of your own.  Bonus points in Grandma-land:  you look cool, you look smart, and you get to beat the pants off the twelve-year-old!

If you are techno-shy, which I totally understand, all you have to do is:

  1. Call your daughter or son and find out of your grandchild has one of these types of cell phones or devices
  2. Write down which one it is (is it a Droid, and Ipad, an Iphone, etc)
  3. Ask your grandchild to come to the phone and find out what his favorite app is (you can start with the biggies: Mafia Wars, Zombie Farm, Hanging with Friends, Words with Friends) – you may have to supply these suggestions if you have a grunter like I do: one grunt for yes I play it, two grunts for no.
  4. Get their user name – this may be called a “gamer tag” in tween lingo, but you need this to invite them to a game.
  5. Tell them you love them and miss them.
  6.  Walk into a service provider (think Verizon, Apple, Sprint, T-mobile) and let them know you want to know what their rate plans are to allow you to download apps (and specifically to play the app your grandchild plays – from the grunted answer).
  7. Pick the least expensive plan that meets your needs.  If you want bells and whistles, that is up to you, but don’t be fooled into having to have them.  If you only talk on a cell phone five hundred minutes a month do not buy unlimited talk for an extra $10.00 per month – by going the app play route, you will probably talk less because the grunts get shorter.
  8. Have the guy at the store you choose set up your phone: transfer your numbers in, fix the ring to something you can stand, and download the apps you want for you.  They will do this if you ask. In fact, I like making them fix all my settings and do a tutorial at the same time, I hate trying to do set ups at home and I figure for the cost of these phones I should get a little TLC from the guy at the desk.
  9. Open the app, set up you own gamer tag – something like “gramma rocks” “im gonna beat u bad” and shoot off an invite.

My grandson and I play both together – the free versions.  We love checking our farms for onion-head carrot arm creatures, debating the best way to grow a turnip arm-broccoli head zombie, and we love trying to best each other in a game of scrabble (I usually win, he is a twelve-year-old boy, after all).  This little game playing takes about ten minutes of my time a day, but it has really connected us through the distance in a way the texting and emailing and phone calls have not.  Sure, it is not the same as sitting around the table on family game night, but it is a far cry from the grunting and three-letter texts I get when I try to call.  And maybe one day he’ll scrabble me the name of the girl he’s dating or the college he hopes to get into.  If all it takes to connect with a tween is a Zombie Apocalypse, sign me up!

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Feb 8 2012

Making a Memory with Your Grandchild

English: Cheese snack Svenska: Ostbågar

Image via Wikipedia

One of the most amazing things I take away from spending my days with my Grandchildren, especially my twelve year old grandson, is that they have absolutely no concept that my husband and I are – OLD!  They look at us in the same the category as their parents, people who are older, who tell them what to do, who take care of them, who love and accept them.  They do not have any inkling that we have all the things that come along with natural aging: arthritis, the occasional lapse of memory, cardiac or high blood pressure.

That does not mean that I am not aware of it, though.  And I think to myself, how can I make a memory that will last?  My oldest daughter remembers her grandmother waiting inside by the snow to help her strip down and warm herself by the stove after making snow angels.  My youngest son remembers that his grandmother always had cheese puffs.  My middle child remembers golfing with her grandmother.  Each of these memories are instances that my children smile, even though now that they are approaching middle age, excepting my husband’s mother, their grandparents have been gone from us for several years.

One national survey of grandparents reported that a variety of activities were engaged in with grandchildren such as:

  • Joking and kidding
  • Giving money
  • Talking about growing up
  • Giving advice
  • Discussing problems
  • Going to church/synagogue
  • Providing discipline
  • Taking a day trip
  • Teaching a skill or game
  • Watching TV together
  • Talking about parent/child disagreements

I recently read an article that suggested memorializing your life history on tape.  That is definitely an option, but my family tends to put more value on playing together.  We go to our grandchildren’s sporting events and dress up with beads or pom-poms from our local party store in their team colors. We like to attend dance recitals and school events like art shows, science fairs, or plays and bring flowers from the backyard for a job well done.

I suggest making a list (or using the one above as a starter) to think about what you can do to create a memory and plan it out.  One of my girlfriends who does not live in the same state as her grandchildren has annual summer “Grandma Camp” where she flies the kids out and takes them on an exhausting whirlwind week full of things that the kids love to do. Everyone looks forward to that – mom and dad get a weekend to “get away” and she gets to create a tradition to pass down. But whatever you do, cherish it, just like when your children were little, your grandchildren will also grow up, and you are a valuable contributor to that process!

 

Jan 31 2012

Things to Teach Your Grandchildren

Grandparents play an important role in the lives of their grandchildren as role models, mentors, caregivers, and friends.  The non-judgemental, unconditional acceptance of a grandparent creates a special bond that children treasure.  This special bond is fallow ground for teaching and learning.  There is no limitation to what grandparents can teach their grandchildren. 

Family History and Traditions

There are no better storytellers than experienced storytellers, and no better stories than the ones that involve your grandchildren’s parents, aunts and uncles.  You Grandchildren will love to hear about the rain dance ceremony their parents used to put on in the driveway whenever it got cloudy so they could splash in the puddles, or how you used to theme their Halloween costumes and their dad was always the odd man out: a fire hydrant when the other three were Dalmatians, or a peanut when they were Elephants. 

 How to Make Paper Dolls, Paper Airplanes and Home-Made Sailboats

 Children today grow up with non-stop media: television, computers and video games.  Many children have never played with paper dolls or learned how to make a paper airplane or create a sailboat out of wood, a straw and a handkerchief.  Grandparents can teach their grandchildren that yesterday’s toys are still great fun to play with today.

That When Somebody Wrongs You, It’s Best to Turn the Other Cheek

Grandparents can have a moral influence on their grandchildren.  When the grandchildren are facing a difficult situation, grandparents can guide them into reasoned choices and help them to grant forgiveness.

How to Bake Cookies and Do Other Fun Things

I taught my grandchildren how to bake cookies, and this was one of the biggest highlights of their little lives.  They cracked eggs and measured and stirred.  They rolled out dough and cut out stars, Santas, angels and reindeer.  Once the cookies were baked, they decorated them with sugars and frosting.  Yum!

To Respect People

We strive to instill the value of respect for self and for others.  My oldest grandson’s parents are divorced and remarried and we always demonstrate love and compassion to his father and stepmother, even when he is frustrated with them, and even though sometimes our daughter does not understand.  We explain that he is part of his mom and his dad and that we love all parts of him and that means all parts of them.  We also teach our grandchildren that acceptance begins within yourself, and to truly love and respect others, you must love yourself.

To Use Resources Wisely

This is a chance for you to show your grandchild that you can Go Green too.  We recycle, we use the backyard to teach about sustenance living by growing our own fruits, herbs and vegetables and incorporating them into our cooking.  We make games out of saving electricity and water. This is fun as well as a great life lesson.

To Save for a Rainy Day

We are very fortunate and are able to spoil our grandchildren.  We do on occasion give them gifts and money, but we always impress upon them saving for a rainy day and having financial goals.   We talk about what they want to save their money for and how they will achieve the amount of money needed for big ticket items… and we never accept “wait for Papa to buy it” as an answer.

That They Belong

Grandparents have a special chance to teach their grandchildren that they always have somewhere to go, and that they are an invaluable contributor to a greater group of people.  I keep a room in my house just for the grandkids, it is decorated with the things that are important to them.  My oldest grandson, who is twelve, has been known to tell his mom he has three houses: hers, his dad’s and ours. 

That They are Special

We all have bad days, disappointments, and times when we are frustrated.  But knowing there are people in the world who think you are amazing is what keeps us going when times are tough.  My grandson’s artwork was featured at a school art show.  When we came home, we had an auction to determine who got to keep that special picture, of course Papa outbid even mom for that honor.  We have hung the artwork in his office for all to see how very talented and special our grandson is.  Even years later he smiles at the memory of how badly everyone wanted that picture, and just because he drew it.

 

 

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Jan 27 2012

Playing with Your Grandchildren – It’s Important!

Play is one of the most overlooked important things that we can do with our grandchildren which benefits us as much as it benefits them.  Hopefully you are a young grandparent, like I am, and you can get down on the floor and chase toddlers on your hands and knees.  Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely days I have to put the heating pad across my shoulders at night, but for the most part, I have as much fun as they do.  Even if you have physical limits, some of the play you can participate in is mental, and that is just as important! The more activity we participate in, the less likely we are to suffer the effects of aging on our bodies.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Council on Aging agree with me.  They have published articles on the importance of play in promoting healthy child development and maintaining strong adult-child bonds.  You can follow these links for more information:

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;119/1/182

http://www.healthyagingprograms.org/content.asp?sectionid=73

Or you can just take my word for it, what is above is a bunch of scientific gobbledy-gook, and I bet if you have grandchildren, you also have better things to do.

There are several types of play, you can follow the six types of play laid out by child Psychologist Jean Piaget, or you can follow my more practical list. Each has distinct benefits for your grandchildren and some happens at different times, my goal here is to introduce you to some different types of play, and then follow up with how they benefit you and your grandchild.

Pretend Play

There is a ton of information out there about the relationship between “high-quality pretend play” and your grandchild’s smarts. It helps them think, socialize, speak better, and perform better in school.  I am not sure what high quality is, but if that includes putting on rock star shows where my four year old granddaughter climbs up on the coffee table stage and sings her best made up song while I cheer her on, I have this one covered!  For you, pretend play helps keep your brain active – and an active brain is the best way to prevent against diseases common in older people, like dementia.

Baby Play

Playing with babies may seem silly, but even if you have physical limitations, you can hold and gaga at your grandbaby.  This very early play time is essential for developing bonds, creating early social skills, developing brains, learning movements, and school readiness.  That’s right, simply holding your grandbaby and making eye contact while you sing their favorite song helps them get ready for the repetition they will face in school. And passing them a toy or rattle helps them learn special awareness and coordination. For you, baby play just plain feels good.  Growing social and emotional connections and knowing you are an invaluable contributor to your grandchild’s development from the start is important for everyone’s emotional health.

Solitary Play

Playing alone is an important part of developing play skills.  For this, all you have to do is set up the area that your grandchild can navigate on their own: books, balls, puzzles, blocks, stuffed animals, art or coloring.  This helps your grandchild develop and master new skills, learn leadership skills, independent thinking, and social security.  To keep them learning regularly exchange the play items for new ones so they gets lots of opportunities to experience new things.  For you: Not much, it is way more fun to be involved that to be an onlooker, but watching your grandchildren as they master new skills can definitely give you something to brag about to your friends.

Sensory Play

Until last year, this was a whole new concept for me.  My youngest grandson faced some very difficult challenges making his way into this world.  He was born with partial right side paralysis and some minor neurological deficits.  His mother and I were surprised to discover a whole area of play focused just on developing your grandchild’s senses. Containers of water, dirt, sandboxes, spoons, measuring cups and your help will allow your grandchild’s math skills to blossom.  Like solitary play, you can set up an area for the two of you to discover what happens when your grandchild scoops sand into a container of water (the water line goes up!).  But unlike solitary play, you play too.  The advantage for you: the fine hand and finger movements help keep arthritis at bay, and the thinking involved in creating the next sensory experiment will keep your brain young!

Guided Play

This type of play is play that you design for your grandchild to participate in.  This type of play is important in developing the foundation for social skills, give and take negotiations, and learning.  You can create a theme, build off a favorite story, or make an enticing change to your house, like tossing a sheet over the sofa and coffee table to go “camping”.  After that, your grandchild takes off with the rest, and your job is to follow, but reinforce the boundries of the activity, her imagination might build an alien zoo in your outer-space, but not at Cinderella’s castle. For you: again that pesky “keep your brain young” advantage.  And depending on how active your creation is, you could also benefit from moving your body to stave off the affects of inactivity. Imagination is fantastic!

Physical Play

This rough and tumble play is close encounter play.  It is not fighting, but it does involve touching, tickling, gauging strength, discovering physical limitations or advantages.  You can encourage physical play through a game of tag, a game of kick, or a game of catch.  There are endless ways to encourage and participate in physical play, and it is important for developing bodies to gain new physical skills, like skipping, jumping, rolling, and running. For you the advantage is staving off age-related diseases like obesity, arthritis, or loss of flexibility.  If you can participate at all in physical play, I highly recommend it.

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Jan 24 2012

Raising Grandchildren

According to recently released census figures, eight percent of American children lived at a grandparent’s home in 2010. That’s a record high for at least the last 40 years, and almost four times the rate in 1970. And to put that into perspective for you, only 13 percent of us have reached retirement age!  Demographers attribute that increase to a growing number of unemployed young parents who are relying on the older generation for help.

In the past, grandparent-led households were seen disproportionately among certain groups, like African American grandmothers. But now, with the widespread impact of the recession, active grand-parenting is increasing across the board.

The financial plans that you may have made based upon traditional frameworks: taking care of each other, your home, vacationing, just being your average, retired older couple, are likely now being redefined.  Many people who relied on pensions and government plans, like social security, or saw their investments dwindle by 40%, are finding that the dollar just doesn’t go quite as far when there are additions to the household.

Setting new expectations for retirement is key to achieving financial security and happiness.  It is important to start with knowing what you will do – With grandchildren in your house you are Retiring TO Something… not away from something.

1. Start by Making  Goals

What is it that you want to accomplish in your retirement?  Do you want more time with your family?  Have you always wanted to volunteer your time to a cause you believe in?  Do you want to wake up every morning and have a quiet cup of coffee?  Your goals are as unique as you, and no two people will have the same ideas, start your retirement off by defining yours!  Then figure out how to work your grandchildren into them, most charities can always use extra hands, even if they are small.  Coffee can be just as enjoyable fifteen minutes before everyone else wakes up, and perhaps a tea party with Teddy can substitute if you have very early risers.  A little planning and you can have your cake and eat it too!

2. List Your Likes and Dislikes

Everyone has things they like to do, and things they do not like to do.  List them out.  Teach your grandchildren about the things you enjoy doing so you can spend your time together on those activities.  I taught my then-ten year old grandson to crochet. He loved having his younger cousins use the blankets or wear the hats he made with my extra yarn. 

3. Know Your Expertise

Are you an expert salsa dancer or do you know your fine arts? Can you make technology hum like Steve Jobs?  Are you a financial wiz?  Share what you are great at with your grandchildren.  School can only teach the basics, it is the adults that surround them that they learn from.

4. Stay Active

Kids are a sure fire way to keep us moving!  And exercise and activity are important for staying healthy long into your retirement.  Take advantage of toting that six month old, shifting her from left to right arm to maintain equal balance.  Get up and play kick with your toddler, it improves their hand eye coordination and provides you with cardiovascular benefits.  Sure, it might make you want to take a nap when they go down, but hey, why not? You’re retired!

5. Do Your “Homework” Every Week

A tip often repeated by single mothers everywhere is plan out your week in advance like it is a job. Then you will know what you have to accomplish and how much to budget for it, and you can adjust if you are lean on time or money in advance.   Know when you will have the grandkids, and what you are going to do each day you have them.  Is this week Cinderella’s Adventures, and everyday your princess troupe is going to read stories and watch movies about Cinderella, make up new stories of their own about what happens next, make crowns out of construction paper, and put on mouse noses or bird beaks during clean up time?  Make every day special by taking the time to think though how you can show your grandchildren you love having them with you.

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Jan 23 2012

Valentines Day Treats

Valentine’s Day just would not be complete without a special meal or treat for your Grandkids.  But how can you do this without breaking the bank?  We have some suggestions for using your everyday meals… but putting a heart felt-twist on them to make sure your grandkids LOVE them!

Heartwarming Mini Pizzas!

Use fresh dough shaped into a heart, or take bagel thins and a cookie cutter to make heart-shaped bagels.  Let the kids add sauce, shredded cheese, and bake!

 

English Muffin Hearts

Using a cookie butter, stamp out a heart shape of the English muffin.  Topped with butter and jelly, they make the perfect breakfast or after school snack.

 

 

Lemon Love Potion

Pink lemonade, a scoop of raspberry sherbet, and lemon lime soda mix to make a love potion nobody can resist.  Serve in a glass with straws to really impress your sweetheart.

 

Heartfelt Pancakes

Using your own pancake recipe, shape your breakfast cakes into hearts on the griddle.  A warm way to start this special day and let your grandchildren know you love them.

 

 

Jan 20 2012

Save Big at The Grocery Store and Spend Big on the Kids!

Fruit and berries in a grocery store, Paris, F...

Image via Wikipedia

Being retired, I have found that the very same tricks that helped me manage the family grocery budget with a household of six also helps me to manage a home full of grandchildren!

There are so many ways of cutting financial corners, Groceries are just the tip of the iceberg.  You will be surprised how fast an extra $20.00 will find you.  And since that will allow you to spend extra money as well as extra time, you can plan a great adventure with your grandkids, so stay posted for my upcoming article… Grandchild Adventures on $20.00!

  1. Plan Ahead: Do you use time and gas making extra trips to get a forgotten item? I use Sundays to plan out my errands for the week so I can maximize my gas dollar.  Of course, the best laid plans can sometimes be foiled by an unexpected surprise mid-week or an emergency, but coordinating the most efficient route for errands can save you not just hours, but miles.  The current tax reimbursement rate per mile traveled is $0.55, so even cutting 20 miles per week out of one regular day will save you almost $600.00 per year!
  2. Food:  Eliminate the waste by taking the time to clean your fridge regularly each week and have a special shelf for leftovers. For bread, leave out only what you will eat before it molds and freeze the rest. For canned items, write enlarged expiration dates on cans with a sharpie so they are easily visible. Rotate cans and put the ones that expire first in the front. Plan meals around items that need to be used. You aren’t saving money if food ends up being thrown out.
  3. Coupons: Have you ever gone shopping and forgotten to give the cashier your coupons? Find a system that helps you to remember to redeem coupons. I put a note on my grocery list, but I also have friends who have a dedicated shopping wallet: it contains their list of must get items, grocery money for the week, and their coupons. When they go to the store, they take that wallet instead of their every-day one.
  4. Grocery/Club Cards: Some stores offer club cards that offer members reduced prices. In exchange they usually ask for your contact information and some personal information so they can market to you.  You do not have to give “real” information, they do not check!  Just make sure to use your card to get the proper discount. If you try the grocery wallet trick, you can keep these cards there.
  5. Know What Stores Offer Matching: In my neighborhood, some stores will double or triple coupons, that is great, but it isn’t always the best deal.  The best deal is when I can make one trip, get what I need and get out and start having fun!  I have found some stores, like Walmart Marketplace, do not advertise, but they quietly offer price matching on all local stores ads.  So all I have to do is go through the weekly ads, compile the list of best prices and bring the ads when I shop.  I get the best deals and I maximize my gas dollar.
  6. Buy the Right Size and Amount: One grocery store had a special going where if you bought five items, you got five dollars off. It was cheaper to buy five than to buy two or three during these sales. There are also times when the larger item may be less expensive per unit, and if it won’t expire and you have the room, it may be worth buying more.  Check to make sure you have the right size and number of items so you the bargain price.
  7. Reusable Bags: Some stores offer incentives (up to 25 cents per bag of items purchased) for bringing in your own bag. You also help the environment. You can find out with a quick internet search if your local grocery store participates.
  8. Rebates: Many stores and companies offer rebates when you buy their merchandise. Be prompt in mailing in rebates or you may lose the opportunity.
  9. Shop the Outskirts: Most grocery stores keep their fresh food on the outskirt of the store, produce to one side, meat and dairy in the back, and fresh bakery to the other side. Not only does shopping the outskirts keep you away from processed foods that contain hormones, preservatives, and dyes that are not as healthy for you or your grandkids as fresh foods are, but those pre-prepared items cost more too!  Except vegetables, which can be much less expensive if you buy frozen than fresh, most of the food that you can use to prepare healthy snacks and meals can be bought at the outskirts of the store at a tremendous savings!
  10. Beware Organics:Organic is a food label used to play on your emotions as a grandparent.  It is not a word that means anything, it is like saying something is “magical”.  I actually saw the word organic on a gummy fruit snack the other day!  How a gummy chew qualifies as organic is beyond me, but the price of that gummy snack was an entire dollar more than the non-organic version. Save you spare dollars and look at the labels.  Pesticide free, dye free, hormone free, preservative free foods are without argument healthier: but you can remove any residual pesticide from your apple by the simple act of washing it, and by paying $0.40 less for every apple you buy, you can easily save $60.00 a year.
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Jan 19 2012

Daily Adventures On The Cheap

One of the best parts about being a grandparent is the joy of taking daily adventures.  You are no longer bound by the conventional workweek and relegated to the cattle call of the weekend warrior, that rat-race is for your kids to deal with.  And the best part about mid-week adventuring (other than the smiles your Clouseau-lik

English: This playground was designed to be ac...

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spirit will earn you), is they can almost always be Done On The Cheap!

My Top Five Favorite Places to Find On-The-Cheap Adventure.

1. Your Local Library

No longer the hallowed halls that we remember where bookish ladies glared at a rambunctious child and hissed “Shhh”, Library services have increased dramatically in the past few years, offering not only books, but popular magazines, DVDs, and free internet access to members.  For grandparents like me who have a wide age range (12 years all the way down to 1 month), your local library can be just the solution: free story time, crafts, and puppet shows for the youngest and controlled internet usage for your tweener.

2. Your Local  Community Parks and Recreation Department

Although not all offer programs, our city offers many low-cost activities, and not just to school-agers.  You can find everything from subsidized tennis lessons, dance lessons, art classes, and girls’ running clubs to preschool activities.  We are very fortunate and our city also organizes guide-led hikes for a minimal transportation cost.  Every season, our Parks and Recreation Department issues a catalog that is available for viewing on the internet or by stopping by their community center.  This has upcoming programs as well as dates and locations for great free or very low cost city-sponsored activities, like Fourth of July festivities, parades, and community gatherings.

3. The Closest Shopping Center

I can hear the groans.  Shopping malls are a money trap for many, and if you fall into this group, skip to idea 4.  I am trying to save your dollar, not spend it!  But if you are gifted with the ability to deftly side-step that 40% off sale at Ann Taylor, your local mall is a fantastic climate controlled adventure spot.  Because the primary spender in the American household is the mom, most malls are set up to not just accommodate, but cater to families!  That means not only clean family friendly restrooms but also indoor playgrounds with security.  Check around: several also advertise play date times for younger ages, mommy clubs, and stroller exercise groups.  A few of the higher end shopping centers have play fountains, schedule child-friendly shows with favorite cartoon friends, or fashion shows for that mini-fashionista in your family.

4. The Park in Your Neighborhood

I am willing to bet that you probably drive past a playground everyday on your way to fancier, far more expensive adventures.  The sun, the swings, the slides, the smell of grass you didn’t have to cut.  It all adds up to on-the-cheap fun for the whole family.  Dying to make it extra special?  Pack a cooler with a picnic and surprise the kids with juice or a favorite treat.  Spread a blanket out and let them run wild while you enjoy the sunset, walking back for baths and bed.  You don’t even have to come up with gas money for this one.  Just don’t forget the sunblock!

5. Your Backyard

That’s right, your very own.  Get out the bubbles, turn on the sprinklers.  Turn the radio up to your grandchildren’s favorite “jams” and have a dance party.  Chalk is about the most inexpensive, non-permanent way to start a game of four-square, hop-scotch, or re-create the Louvre, and it can be done two steps from your door.  I have spent many happy days seated on the porch surrounded by pinks and blues and yellows.  A simple Tupperware jar can become a bug collectors’ dream as your grandson marvels at an ants’ legs or a grasshoppers’ wings.  All you have to do is supply a little imagination to the setting and your backyard can become a Wonderland to rival the one Alice got lost in.  No shrinking juice or white rabbits required.