| 2012 Calendar
Date Host Presenter
Jan 8 Dee TBD
Mar 4 Juliette Juliette McD
May 6 Michele Member mixer
July 8 Cheri
Sept 9 Sandra
Nov 4 Diane
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2011 Program
November 6 Dr. Ruth O'Hara, research professor at Stanford School of Medicine, will discuss some of her work on sleep disorders in women and the implications for our physical and mental health. She'll give us some suggestions for improving our sleep.
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Alphabet Pretzel Recipe
Dee shared this easy recipe and tips for a fun project she did with her two grandchildren, Mia, 4 and Ryan, 2.
1/2 pkg. dry yeast
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. sugar
2 cups flour
1 egg for brushing pretzels
1. Soften yeast in lukewarm water.
2. Add salt and sugar.
3. Mix in flour and knead the mixture into a soft, smooth dough.
4. Cut the dough into small pieces.
5. Roll and mold the pretzel dough into whatever shapes you like.
6. In another bowl, beat an egg; then brush onto the pretzel shapes.
7. Sprinkle each pretzel with coarse grain salt.
8. Bake the pretzels at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Dee's Tips
1. Cover your work surface with a plastic tablecloth for easy clean up.
2. Provide smocks or aprons and roll up sleeves.
3. Mix in both cups of flour at once. You may have to help stir and knead the dough to begin.
4. Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour on surface and dust hands.
5. You can use a rolling pin or just roll dough with hands.
6. Group the same size pretzels on the cookie sheet so they bake evenly.
7. For clean up, place a bowl of warm water on the table for the children to soak their hands and loosen the dough.
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Greetings!
How often have we heard the warning "zip your lip," when it comes to communicating with our adult children? I even advised it myself in a chapter I wrote for the Art of Grandparenting: "zip your lip and let them figure it out." But this can be frustrating when we have things to say and opinions to share with our children. Now there's a book by Dr. Ruth Nemzoff that points out the flaws in this old advice. In Don't Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships With Your Adult Children, Nemzoff says it's okay to express some of our feelings, as long as we offer them in a constructive way. In fact, the conventional wisdom that parents should bite their tongues is not helpful in forging bonds with our children. In this process of "second-stage parenting," open communication is important so that we can get to know our children as adults and allow them to get to know us. I'm grateful to my friend Jackie for telling me about Nemzoff's very readable and helpful book. Last April I wrote to Nemzoff, introduced myself and invited her to write a guest post on my blog. She not only obliged by writing: Grandparents Need to Respect Parents Food Choices, she also sent me an autographed copy of her book. The book truly resonated for me--especially her chapter on communication tips. Nemzoff reminds us that we parents have lost our own voices and need to reclaim them because words are an important element in building more equal and adult relationships with our kids. I've summarized her tips in this month's newsletter. I wish you and your family a Happy Halloween,
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Communicating with Your Adult Children
 Dr. Ruth Nemzoff's book Don't Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with your Adult Children offers some excellent suggestions for communicating with our adult children. She emphasizes the importance of fostering meaningful communication with our adult children while describing the challenges. Because we've invested so much time, energy, and money into our children, we feel they owe us a debt of gratitude.
We're also so wrapped up in their successes and failures that their achievements and failures tap into our very core. These relationships also have the potential intensity to evoke anger, joy, heartbreak, embarrassment, and pride.
The first steps in learning to communicate are to understand each other, build trust, and respect each other's boundaries. Instead of focusing on holding back and biting your tongue, focus on how you might express what you are bursting to say at another time, another place, and another way. Be aware of your own intentions and make sure you put yourself in your child's shoes and try to see the issue from his or her point of view.
Read Nemzoff's 11 tips for communicating with your children. |
My Two Favorite Trick-or-Treaters
 Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays and now it's even more fun getting into the spirit with my granddaughters. This year 8-year old Juliet found her Halloween costume at the Goodwill store. She bought an old-fashioned dress with matching bonnet and petticoat and looks as if she's stepped out of the pages of her favorite Little House on the Prairie novels. Four-year old Amelia is wearing the chicken costume that Juliet outgrew a few years ago.
But my favorite costumes are the ones I inspired two years ago when they each dressed up as a bunch of grapes. Read more |
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Tips to Tame Your Halloween Candy Monster
 While we're on the subject of Halloween ... I have to confess that I have a serious sweet tooth, which may be one of the reasons why I love Halloween so much--it's an excuse to eat candy. There's something about seeing a bowl of Halloween candy that brings out the candy monster in me.
I looked for some ideas on dealing with Halloween candy temptations. You can read my 9 tips to keep in mind when you're buying those trick-or-treat goodies by clicking here.
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Programs for Our 2012 Meetings
It was so much fun meeting with our program planning committee on October 20. I'm thrilled with all the interesting ideas we came up with for our 2012 meetings. We have our first three programs of the year scheduled and five more ideas awaiting confirmation.
January 8, 2012
Back by popular demand: "When Being a Grandma Isn't So Grand" will be a group discussion about the challenges of being a grandma. I'm looking for a facilitator to moderate the discussion.
March 4, 2012
"Music for the Young at Heart" facilitated by Juliette McDonald. Juliette is a retired preschool teacher, singer, songwriter, performer, author, master teacher and director of young children and adult education.
May 6, 2012
"Who Are You When You're Not Grandma?" will be a combination of two of our most popular past meetings--our member mixer and our meeting where we talked about some of the other "hats" we wear. Our committee thought of some wonderfully thought-provoking questions to help us share some things about ourselves.
Our committee also generated some great ideas for including our daughters and daughters-in-law and even our grandchildren. We're working on some smaller social gatherings in between our regularly scheduled meetings. I'll keep you posted as we finalize plans.
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The GaGa Zone
Please continue sending me pictures and stories of you with your grandchildren for the GaGa Zone.
| GaGa Cindy's grandchildren model their tie-dye shirts they made at Lake Tahoe last summer
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