Nov 2008 GaGazine

At our meeting 16 grandmas and one great-grandma sat in a circle in Sandy's living room laughing hysterically. Our wonderful presenter, Barbara L., was teaching us the lyrics and hand motions to "Little Bunny Foo Foo," who bunnyfoofoo

goes "hopping through the forest, scooping up the field mice and boppin' em on the head!" By the fourth chorus our choir of GaGas was pretty giddy - proving once again that grandmas don't need their grandchildren present to be silly and have fun!

It was truly a joyful meeting. Marilyn L. brought her mother, Mary Alice who was celebrating her 88th birthday. Mary Alice, aka "Topaz," was my Brownie and Girl Scout leader during the '50s. She said the songs brought back memories of summer camp for her, too.

We also celebrated the formation of the "Green GaGas," inspired by new GaGa Janet H. In her RSVP she emailed to say she'd love to attend her first meeting but wanted to carpool because "Good Grandmas are Green Grandmas." I gave her the names of three GaGas who were coming from Palo Alto and voila, a carful of "Green Goddesses" arrived laughing and smiling before the meeting had even begun.

Barbara explained that she chose the topic of singing to fill a hole from her own childhood. She never attended summer camp or kindergarten to learn songs, but she wanted to be able to share silly songs with her two grandchildren, Emma, 5, and Miles, 1.

She assured us there was no pressure to learn the songs and just encouraged us to experience the joy of music. When we share that joy with our grandchildren, we create a special intimate bond with them. "It's not about your skill," she said, "it's about sharing the moment and truly being present. Music speaks in a language that children instinctively understand. Here are a few more thoughts:

Add actions to engage children and encourage their mental, emotional, social, and physical development.

Personalize songs for your grandchildren to make them feel special.
Add gestures to any song you already know to make it more engaging.
Sing together over a Web cam if you're far from your grandkids.
Ask your older grandchildren to teach younger ones and get everyone involved.

Barbara created a 10-page song sheet with 16 songs and their URLs so you can review the melodies and hand motions. She also included a description of Internet Resources and links to finding more song lyrics and music education projects. Be sure to check out KIDiddles - I found the lyrics and melodies to many old camp songs in their song index. I will email you a pdf of her handout so you can enjoy the songs with your grandchildren.

Several GaGas shared stories about their favorite songs and why they were meaningful:

Marilyn L. remembered her father singing "K-K-K-Katy" when they went on road trips. She sang when she carpooled and changed the names to the children who were in her car.
Jeannie, a new member, entertained us with her own rendition of "Swim Said the Little Fishies" that she's customized for her grandchildren.
Susan T. makes up songs for her four granddaughters and sang one for us. Kathleen shared a song to sing when you're holding a baby on your lap: "Three wee donkeys went over the bridge and one fell in." Then you open your knees and catch the baby as she falls between your legs.
I often leave songs for my granddaughters on their answering machine. When each of them was born, I wrote them a song about the day they were born.

Thank you again, Sandy and Barbara, for creating such a memorable meeting.