I'm A Grandmother!! Now What?!

I think that the sub-title of my book, Ideas on How to Have Fun with Your Grandchildren, reveals what the book is about. As grandmother-friends shared in conversation their stories of unique and interesting things they were doing with their grandchildren, I felt that these ideas needed to be shared with others. When I was a parent, I tried to read every good book I could find on parenting, but I could find no "how-to" books for grandmothers. Now that I was finally a grandmother, I wanted to know how to be a good one!

I interviewed many very creative grandmothers from various parts of the country. They shared the joy of being a grandmother and memories of their own grandmothers, which are quite touching. I asked them for their best ideas for play-time and story-time with their grandchildren. As a teacher, I wanted to know how they might encourage a love for reading and learning, in general. How did they celebrate holidays and birthdays with them? What were some tips for traveling with them? I wanted to know how "long-distance" grandmothers kept in touch. I wanted to know what they did to help their precious ones develop a relationship with their Creator.

Although my initial purpose in writing this book was to help grandmothers, including myself, find ways to have fun with their grandchildren - providing ideas for all kinds of activities we can do with them and learning about resources for toys, books, games, etc. - I believe that the key to being a positive force in the lives of our grandchildren is not in "what we do", but instead in "who we are" when we are with them.

I don't know that I have unique qualifications for writing this book. I am just a grandmother who enjoys writing, but I hope that the ideas in this book will help other grandmothers (grandparents) know how to help their grandchildren become the best that they can be - how to fulfill the purpose God has for their lives. Grandparents