GaGa Sisterhood
March 2013
GaGazine Contents
2013 Calendar
Please Forward the GaGazine
Favorite Grandparent Blog
Bonding in the Big Apple
April 11 Filoli Tour
GRAND Magazine Subscription
Blue Goo Recipe
Secrets of a Savvy Grandma
Grandparenting 101
My Book Is on Amazon
Programs for 2013
The GaGa Zone
Quick Links
2013 Calendar  

Date       Host                       Presenter

May 5     Sandy Deagman    Beth Miller
July 14   Sandi Dolmatch      Member Mixer
Sept 8    Helena Wood         The Grammie Guide
Nov 3     Michele Sartain      Francine Toder  
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 Favorite Grandparent Blog About.com

Last month About.com nominated the GaGa Sisterhood blog as a finalist for their 2013 Readers' Choice Favorite Grandparent Blog and my friend Paola Gianturco's book, Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon, as a finalist for Favorite Grandparent Book. We launched a joint campaign and asked you to vote for us. Thanks to all your votes we both won!
 
GaGa Sisterhood took first place as Favorite Grandparent Blog and Grandmother Power took first place as Favorite Grandparent Book.

Thank you loyal voters. We couldn't have done it without your support.
Bonding in the Big Apple

NYC

Have you ever wanted to take your grandchild on an insider's tour of New York City? Kitt Garrett, GaGa Sisterhood member and New York native, designs specialized tours for grandparents and grandchildren through her company Discover New York and Beyond.

Kitt recently described one of her popular tours that sounded like so much fun I wanted to share it with you.

The 3-night trip starts on a Thursday afternoon with a welcome dinner at an Italian restaurant. On Friday your grandchildren will create their own family memory book while discovering NYC. They'll learn how to ask questions like a reporter, explore some of NY's popular spots with a one-hour harbor cruise to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, then visit the Tenement Museum.

On Saturday your grandkids will take a private lesson in a Broadway rehearsal studio with a cast member and pianist and learn the choreography, staging, and music of the show that you'll see that night. Before the Broadway show you'll have dinner in an Asian restaurant that features noodles as the center stage.

On Sunday morning you'll have a private scavenger hunt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art using clues to find famous works of art.

Kitt provides personalized kid-friendly expert guides with insider access to help you have a memorable experience with your grandchild. You can customize your own itinerary or have Kitt plan the whole trip for you. Watching this short video of one grandparent's trip looked like so much fun, I wanted to bring my own granddaughters.

To learn more about Kitt's fabulous Discover New York and Beyond tours contact her at: [email protected]  
April 11 Filoli Tour  
 
 

FiloliGarden  

It's back by popular demand! Our annual GaGa Sisterhood tour of the beautiful gardens at Filoli on Thursday, April 11 at 10:00 am.  

 

We had such a wonderful visit to Filoli during our previous three tours, we're doing it again. Get your taxes done early and reward yourself with a morning going gaga in the gardens! We'll have our own private tour of the gardens led by docent Judith. The cost is $15 or $12, if you're over 65.   

 

After the tour, we'll gather in the cafe for lunch. To reserve your spot, click on Big Tent and include whether you'll stay for lunch.    


 GRAND Magazine Subscription

Grand Magazine

GRAND Magazine is giving away complimentary ($19.95 value) subscriptions to our GaGa Sisterhood readers. Here is the easy link that provides instant access to the current issue plus each new bi-monthly issue will be delivered directly to your email address.

 

Blue Goo Recipe 

   

Blue Goo  

I thought I'd share a different kind of recipe - one that's not edible but is bound to create some memorable moments with your grandchildren. 

  

Blue Goo is a magical substance that can change from liquid to solid and fascinates little hands that love getting messy. You can teach a little science while you create an array of different colors using food coloring.

  

We divided our goo into four bowls so we could experiment with colors. The weird goo hardens in your hands when you squeeze it and feels like a solid. When you open your hands, the goo feels like a liquid and rolls out of your hand.  

  

I do want to warn you that's it a messy activity so be sure you carefully protect surfaces around your work area for easier clean up.  


Ingredients

Newspapers
Mixing bowl

Cornstarch (16-ounce box)

Measuring cup

Water

Box of neon food coloring

  

Directions

1. Pour a box of cornstarch into a bowl.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups (240 milliliters) of water.
3. Add about 15 drops of food coloring. You can also try this with different colors.

4. Mix it all together with your hands.  

 

Donne
Greetings!

There's a Grandmother Power movement underway and it's being led by one of the most amazing grandmas I've ever met. She's Paola Gianturco, grandmother and author of Grandmother Power: A Global Phenomenon. Paola and I recently campaigned for About.com's Favorite Grandparent Blog and Book and we both won! See story in sidebar.

Another fabulous savvy grandma author is Barbara Graham. At our March meeting she shared her perspective about her new grandma status from long-distance to local. We had a rich conversation about the complicated role of being a grandma today. As Boomers, we're used to sharing our feelings and being more open and intimate than our parents who had a code of silence. With increased intimacy comes increased expectations, the challenge of learning how and when to say no, and navigating the ongoing dance of how much to be part of each others lives.

We all had such a good time talking with Barbara and she did too. She wants to come back and have another free flowing conversation with us. I can't wait.

There's so much going on in the world of grandparenthood. It seems to be the new hot topic. I appreciate your sending me tips about grandparent-related news in the media. I'm so grateful to Claudia for telling me about NPR's Forum: What Grandmothers Do. It was a fascinating discussion about how grandmas are having a positive and powerful impact on making the world better for our grandchildren.

Happy Spring,

SigColor

Secrets of a Savvy Grandma

 

Barbara Graham

Barbara GrahamAuthor Barbara Graham has done some globe hopping to stay connected to her two granddaughters. For the past five years her son and daughter-in-law lived in Paris, while Barbara lived in Washington, DC. Now she's determined to stay put in the San Francisco Bay Area where she's just a short drive from them.

But being in such close proximity has its pros and cons. Instead of those two-week intense visits that included an overseas flight, she can now just pop over for an hour or pick up the girls from school.

On the other hand, because she's a working writer, she can't be on call to babysit on a regular basis. In addition to figuring out her new role as local grandma, she's realizing that having the "other" grandparents close by is more of a benefit than she'd imagined. Instead of feeling competition for time with her granddaughters, she's discovering the value of sharing the responsibilities among all the grandparents.

Eye of My Heart
Eye of My Heart

In addition to writing and editing, Eye of My Heart: 27 Writers Reveal the Hidden Pleasures and Perils of Being a Grandmother, Barbara has written for Oprah Magazine, Time, More, National Geographic Traveler, Food & Wine, Glamour, People, Redbook, Self, Tricycle, Utne Reader, and Vogue.

After she became a grandma, she discovered it was way more complicated than she'd imagined. She couldn't find any books that were profound, funny and insightful---that were the "anti-Hallmark" version of grandmotherhood.

So she decided to write one that tackled the complexities of the role. She wanted a range of stories from "A-list" writers she loves and contacted them to see if they'd be interested. She ended up with 27 grandma/authors who've written about every thought, feeling or reaction you've ever had about being a grandmother. Her anthology is my favorite book on grandmotherhood and you can read my review to get more details.

Barbara's Top Secrets
  1. Seal your lips.
  2. Abide by the parents' rules.
  3. Practice empathy.
  4. Don't be surprised if old insecurities pop up.
  5. Let go of expectations.
  6. Know your own limits without feeling resentful.
  7. Maintain the integrity of your own life.
Grandparenting 101: Calm the Chaos

Do your grandchildren sometimes frustrate and frazzle you? Would you like to stop temper tantrums, whining and arguing? Do you wish your grandkids would listen the first time?

Parent educator Janada Clark teaches Love and Logic tools that will help you remain calm while neutralizing temper tantrums and whining. She also has strategies for eliminating meal time or bed time power struggles.

She's offering a 4-week Love and Logic class series for grandparents on the following Sundays: 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28 from 1:30 - 3:30 pm. in Menlo Park, CA. The cost is $150 and includes a workbook, weekly handouts, email updates and use of her lending library of Love and Logic DVDs and CDs. The tools taught in her class are appropriate to use with any aged child tots to teens. For more information, contact Janada: [email protected]
 My Book Is Available on Amazon

Donne's Book cover My book, When Being a Grandma Isn't So Grand: 4 Keys to L.O.V.E. Your Grandchild's Parents is available on Amazon for $7.50. Buy the ebook on Barnes & Noble for $5.99.

 

Listening to grandmas talk about some of their challenges inspired me to write a practical guide on how to deal with some of the most common ones:
  • Understanding today's modern parenting methods
  • Building satisfying relationships with your grandchild's parents
  • Coping with feelings of being unappreciated or left out  

We all know that parenting and grandparenting present challenges. When Being a Grandma Isn't So Grand: 4 Keys to L.O.V.E. Your Grandchild's Parents addresses some of those challenges and can be a starting point for helping you explore solutions for handling them.

Programs for Our 2013 Meetings  

Our program committee met and we now have all of our programs set for this year so be sure to mark your calendar for these dates.
 

 

May 5, 2013 

Beth Miller, Ph.D., psychotherapist, author of The Woman's Book of Resilience: 12 Qualities to Cultivate, and grandma of 5 grandsons has been studying, teaching and living the qualities of resilience for over twenty years. She'll talk about finding strength and resilience no matter what is happening in your life and in your world.  


July 14, 2013
  Who Are You When You're Not Grandma? will be an interactive meeting where we get to know each other and talk about some of the other "hats" we wear.

September 8, 2013 To celebrate National Grandparents Day, authors Jan Eby, Laurie Mobilio, Lynne Noel, and Cindy Summers will share some of their tricks of the grammie trade from their new book, The Grammie Guide.

November 3, 2013 Francine Toder, Ph.D., author and psychotherapist, will discuss her new book, The Vintage Years: Finding Your Inner Artist (Writer, Musician, Visual Artist) After Sixty.

The GaGa Zone   
Please continue sending me pictures and stories of you with your grandchildren for the GaGa Zone.

Jen and Charlie
Jen's first grandson, Charles Reid, was born December 7 and is adored by his two older sisters.