2010 Calendar
Date Host Presenter
May 2 Carol W Sharon N
Jul 11 Judy share projects
Sep 19 open open
Nov 7 Irene open
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Hosts and Presenters Wanted
As you can see from our 2010 Calendar above, we need a host for September 19, and presenters or ideas for September 19, and November 7.
Do you have a topic related to grandparenting you'd like to share at one of our meetings? If you'd like to lead a discussion or know a speaker, please let me know. I'm open to your ideas.
Please continue sending me emails with fun activities you're doing so I can include them in the new GaGa Zone section.
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May 2, 2010 Meeting
Multigenerational Living
Carol W is hosting our May 2 in Saratoga. Our
speaker is Sharon Niederhaus, author of Together Again: A Creative Guide for Successful Multigenerational Living. Sharon will
discuss a dozen housing options featuring proximity with privacy (i.e.,
separate kitchen and entrance).
She will also cover remodeling your
home for adult children and grandchildren, financial and legal planning,
and making co-habitation agreements.
Sharon's topic is so timely. The census reports that 6.6 million U.S. households in 2009 had at least 3 generations of family members, an increase of 30 percent since 2000. If you broaden the term "multigenerational" to include two adult generations, a record 49 million, or 1-in-6 people live in such households.
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July 11, 2010 Meeting:
Projects for Our Grandchildren
GaGa Judy is hosting our July 11 meeting in Menlo Park. I've gotten a lot of requests to bring back the activity where we get to know each other. And I'm adding a twist. Every time I hear about some of the creative projects our GaGas have made for or with their grandchildren, I think it would be fun to share them with our members. For our July 11 meeting let's bring a project or description of a project we've done for or with our grandchild.
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The Art of Grandparenting
The Art of Grandparenting is now available. In the chapter I wrote, How to Become a Go-To Grandma, I offer seven strategies for building lasting bonds with your grandchildren. The most important lesson I've learned as a grandma is that getting time with your grandchildren requires building trust and respect with their parents. Trust is the foundation for having access to your grandchildren.
The anthology, subtitled Loving, Spoiling, Teaching and Playing with Your Grandkids, includes 20 chapters by "new" and "seasoned" grandparent authors. To order the book, click here.
You can also purchase copies at our May 2 meeting.
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Greetings!
Last week my husband and I took a road trip down to Southern California to visit our son in Santa Monica and old friends in Mission Viejo. The drive was spectacular. We took I-5 on the way down and Highway 101 coming home. We spent 3 glorious days cruising around Santa Monica, Laguna Beach, and San Clemente indulging our senses.
On our drive home we took a shortcut off 101 along Highway 154 and had incredible views of Cachuma Lake. The hills were the greenest I've ever seen. We spent the night at a quaint B&B--House of Another Tyme in Arroyo Grande. The couple who own it have 14 grandchildren, 30 finches, 2 bunnies, and 100 clocks. At 8:30 pm they turn off the ones that chime and cuckoo!
After 5 relaxing days, we returned home and I slipped into a funk. It happens every time I return from a vacation. I call it my "re-entry blahs." My post vacation euphoria turns into post vacation blues. I never realized how common it was until I Googled "post vacation depression" and got over two million results! To work through my funk I wrote a post called "7 Ways to Beat the Post Vacation Blues" on my newly designed website.
In Sisterhood,
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GaGas Tour Filoli
GaGas at Filoli  |
On
the morning of our Filoli tour I received four phone calls from GaGas
who weren't able to come due to illnesses. Fortunately, a dozen of us
did make it and were treated to spectacular displays of fragrant
wisteria, tulips, forget-me-knots and enormous peonies.
GaGas Judith and
Betty, who are both Filoli docents, gave us a wonderful tour of the old
mansion and shared lots of interesting stories about its history.
Wandering through the gardens was such a treat and Judith's knowledge of
all the botanical plant names was impressive. While we were standing in
the outer garden looking down on all the lawns and trees, I couldn't
help but think what a wonderful place it would be for grandchildren to
play hide and seek!
Seven of us continued the
fun with lunch at the Woodside Bakery and Café. We talked about ideas
for future meetings and all agreed we'd like to do more informal outings
together.
You movie buffs may be interested to know that over a dozen film
projects have been done at Filoli, including Heaven Can Wait, Joy Luck Club, George of the Jungle and
Wedding Planner.
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In Other News ...
Who You Callin' Grannie?
I got a kick out of the
headline in last month's AARP Magazine: "Who You Callin' Granny?" The article mentions
The New Grandparents Name Book, which offers more than 700 options for grandparent monikers. A group of 40 preschoolers were asked what they called
their grandmothers and only five said "Gramma," "Gram," or "Granny."
Our members have nothing on
those kids' grandmas. We've got "WaWa," "Nama," "Mima," "Noni," "Mamon,"
"Baba," and even "GaGa," to name a few.
It's always fun to hear
what other grandmas are called and whether they chose the name or it came out
of the mouths of their grandchildren. If you're curious about nicknames for
grandparents, click here for lots more.
Lost Your Wallet?
Now there's another reason besides bragging to keep your grandkids' photos in your wallet. According to a study in Edinburgh, Scotland, wallets with baby photos have a better chance of being returned. University of Hertfordshire psychologists planted 240 wallets in Edinburgh to see how many were returned based on their contents. None contained money, but each had a photo of either a baby, a family, an elderly couple, or a dog.
Overall, people turned in 42 percent of the wallets, but the returns depended on the contents. Eighty-eight percent of the baby-photo wallets came back, while the dog earned a 53 percent response, the family portrait 48 percent, and the elderly couple 28 percent. So now you can consider those snapshots of your grandchildren the ultimate pocket protectors!
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GaGazine Wins All Star Award from Constant Contact
I started writing the GaGazine for members of the GaGa Sisterhood when we first began meeting in December  2003. During the first four years I sent it out quarterly as a text-only Word document. In 2008 I signed up with Constant Contact services and switched to a monthly format, embellishing the text with color and graphics.
Last month Constant Contact informed me that the GaGazine has been named a 2009 Constant Contact All Star. This distinction is awarded to Constant Contact "business partners in recognition of effective use of email marketing and continued commitment to following best practices." But really, it's because of you, dear GaGas, that we've earned this distinction. Thanks for opening and reading the GaGazine.
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The GaGa Zone
GaGa Irene laughed when she saw last month's photo of GaGa Cindy skiing with her grandchildren. Irene was also skiing this winter at Bear Valley with four of her grandchildren. "The little ones, 2 and 3 year-olds, ski for an hour or so," says Irene. "But the 6 and 8 year-olds now ski 'black diamond' ski runs. I had forgotten that along with some serious technique, we also needed to play follow the leader, do the roller coaster trails in the trees and share gummy bears on the lift."
"They wanted to ski for a full day. Having skied for 52 years, I never thought how fun it would be to ski with another generation!"
Irene with Tatum Mabel  |
My 7-year old granddaughter, Juliet, had another marathon play date with GaGa Barbara and her granddaughter, Emma. It's the second time we've been rained out of our plans to rent bicycle boats at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. The girls didn't mind at all. They spent the entire afternoon in Emma's room with her collection of Barbie dolls and only came out when it was time for dinner.
Juliet and Emma
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