grandparenting – Days With Grandma

Pinterest Project Review

In this time of quarantine, thank God for Pinterest! This Grandma is determined to make a preschool like environment for her two grand-babies while they can’t attend their own. And Pinterest has come to save the day. But I have to tell you that sometimes things on Pinterest look so easy and reality plays out a different way. So I thought I’d start sharing what reality produces.

First of all, the process is easy:

I type in a word like “Toddler”. Then add another “Projects”

and up pops so many ideas that I have to stop and think! What do I really want to do with them. There’s so many ideas! Well, it’s springtime so why not add the word

“Spring”

and there you have it. A million more ideas.

I picked one:

“Blooming Flowers”

Up comes an idea called “Blooming Puddle Paper Flowers“. So simple, with directions that even I can follow.

So I freehanded the flowers (not too difficult) using a black marker on printer paper.

Watercolor paint was portioned out in a little paint container.

My art table is full of lots of potential project ideas but I try to keep things a bit out of reach. I could have done better here!

The end product was enough for this day. They were left to dry. The next day, I cut them out because they are too little yet to cut a shape like this.

Almost too pretty to do the next step but I told myself that we could always do this activity again.

So here’s the blooming part!

This is the result from the 3 year old

This is the result from the 2 year old

From here, things deteriorated to such a degree that I had to stop taking pictures. The two year old turned all of her flowers into pulp. The three year old tried to gently pull the flowers out only to rip them all. She then just enjoyed pouring water from the tub to the table. With a great deal of haste, I retrieved a sieve to drain the tubs and not clog the drains. So, while this was a picture perfect idea, I was not completely prepared.

We’ll have to see what Pinterest suggests next.

Planning for Toddlers – Spring Theme

My 3 year old grand-daughter stepped into my home on Friday and said “Grandma, do you have a project for us today?”
Claire, Age 3

Last week was a week of learning. Learning how to navigate life under social isolation, learning how to not watch too much news, and learning to be thankful for those little things. For me, it’s that I live next door to my daughter and her family. While they try to work from home, I am right here to take care of the 3 and 2 year old. And it’s because of this moment that I decided to change things up with them. I have been watching two grandchildren three days a week before this happened but now I am changing how I do things for two reasons:

One of them had participated in a preschool program 2 out of my 3 days so I felt that she was being challenged there. While she attended that, her younger sister attended a Child Drop program at the YMCA which gave her socialization time and me a reason to exercise. Now both of these services are closed and it’s up to me to provide a different stimulation for their young quickly developing brains.
I also feel as though they have reached an age where if my time with them was typical daycare, it really gave the kids full control over what we did. I was just there to play along. I have to tell you, those days sound simple but they can be exhausting. Now, after writing up plans and using coordinated play, I feel a sense of control and a renewed excitement. It is all still play based time and they still direct when and how long each planned event lasts but now I feel I have control of some of the time and I have the choice of what books are read/watched, what vocabulary is highlighted, what the fine/gross motor emphasis will be.

I’ve Made Some Changes This Week

After trying to follow my own plans this past week, I realized that I had way too many things planned for each day which put me behind immediately on day one. Then, one day, my daughter tried to follow the day’s plans and she didn’t understand it at all so I had to send her directions in an easier to follow format. And lastly, when I went to open up some of my linked documents, they didn’t save well in a pdf format, so this week, I have developed a format in Goggle Docs: one for each day of the week.

The next thing I’ve done is plan one concept for Monday, a different one for Tuesday, then a review/catch up/ or have fun repeating on Wednesday. Then Thursday, I expanded on the concepts from Monday, Tuesday, and even the previous weeks. This allows the needed repetition of words with just a slight twist. It also makes everything easier for this Grandma.

Friday, I want a blank template. Read your favorite books, bake cookies. Anything goes.

So Friday’s template is blank. Use this to make up your own themes and plans if you want. It’s fun. And it might be fun to share them back with me.

Plans for Week Three

Plans are set up one day at a time. There is no designated time limit and no intended sequence of activities. What I learned this week is that the kids need free play first when they get to my house. And, they seem to need to check out the whole house just to make sure everything is still in the same place or something. When I think the time is right, I guide them to one of the day’s activities.

Monday – this day is all about birds. Someone shared a link to 50 bird sounds. Wait till you hear that! And, I’m excited to let them make a nest out of blankets, build a bird from play dough, and (weather permitting) get outside to gather leaves and twigs and try to make a real bird nest. My other daughter also clued me in on a great little Children’s yoga video series called Cosmic Kids. We tried one last week, and the oldest could do about 15 minutes. Not bad!

blrds-and-butterflies-monday Download

Best Play Dough Recipe

2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 2 Tablespoons Alum, 1.5 cup warm water, 2 Tablespoons oil, Food Coloring, (Optional – 5 drops Lavender Essential Oil)

Cook over low heat until dry looking, Turn onto table and knead. Store in covered container

Tuesday – The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Oh my goodness, this one will be fun! There are so many fun things to do with this theme. Narrowing them down was the hardest part.

blrds-and-butterflies-tuesday Download

Wednesday – Repeat, Review, Catch up. I’ve added a couple more links to try as well just for fun

blrds-and-butterflies-wednesday Download

Thursday – Brings things together on this day by going back to our seeds and then rereading books with a focus on sequence. What happens first, next, and last.

blrds-and-butterflies-thursday Download

Friday – Empty Template. Free Day. This is a day to give lots of choice. Finish project, dance to the music of the week, bake cookies, watch a movie. Anything goes.

Feel free to copy and use the template to plan your own lessons.

I Want Them To Know Me!

It’s My Goal

I Want Them To Know Me

They live far away. I can’t see them every day.

Still I want them to know me.

In between visits, we chat on the phone but I can’t see how much they’ve grown.

I want them to know me.

So visits are as frequent as they can be and when we’re together I can actually see…

They really do know me!

And So I Travel Back And Forth

When I leave home, my mind is preoccupied with all the things I’ve left undone. My home needs my attention. My other grand-babies count on me. There’s always a little melancholy as I pack to leave. Still, I pack that bag and hit the airport early so there is no chance I will miss that flight. And when I arrive, my home takes a back seat to this home, these babies. And sure enough, they’ve grown. But they know me!

We pick up right where we left off. My grandson…oh goodness, there will always be a special bond between us. He knows just how to melt my heart. This time, it was by moving a chair close to me and saying, “I want to sit by you, Grandma, because I love you.” On the first night, though, he struggles with his routine. “Can Grandma read your bedtime story?” “No, I want mommy to…but I still love you Grandma.” By the end of this visit, he invites me to that special time of the day. “You can come lay with us, Grandma.” I have earned a place again.

Now, my granddaughter, she’s a little tougher. She and I did not grow up together. Her connection to her mommy is deeper. I have to work to gain her trust, every single time, but last night she let me rock her to sleep. I worked my way into her heart one more time.

Making Memories

I’m trying to capture golden moments. I’m trying to be part of their life, feel their days – the good and the bad parts. It won’t be long and they’ll be too busy for their grandma. Friendships and activities will consume their time and I will be relegated to periodic visits for school concerts or athletic events. I know this.

And so, on each trip, we try to plan something that is memorable. This time, it turned out to be as simple as setting up a wading pool and sprinkler. They’d not done either yet. So, guess what? We did it! Mommy bought a new garden hose and pulled out a blow up pool that had been waiting since last summer. Together, we made that moment happen and it was so completely joyful. They jumped and splashed in the extraordinary May heat; laughing, screaming, and shouting out to the birds in the trees. It was the moment I will remember from this trip.

Then, I try to take part in their events. I want to feel their days. This trip, it was a short little kids yoga class at their preschool, library story time, and a T-ball game. Then, mix in the play time activities. This time, it was all about tiny legos. Last time, it was the Super Ultimate Garage! My grandson dominates the play choices still. His sister adores him so she gladly follows along.

And Before I Know It…

Another trip comes to an end and my eyes fill with tears…again. It never gets easier. It’s always the same. We talk about when the next time will be, how short a time there is to wait, but two months is a long time for all of us. We just pretend that the time will go fast.

No Matter What

Until they are too busy, until I am no longer able to travel, I will make these trips. I will continue to live from one memory to the next. My days as a Grandma are still the best days of my life. I’ll take the melancholy and the tears over and over again because in between them there is so much laughter and love.