Grandmas and Guns

Lots of people go on trips over the course of the summer. Many families are represented on these vacations by three generations. We're still in the planning stages for this coming summer, but we've been reflecting on the benefits of these trips. Of course, with our book, The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting, we have the interests of the grandchildren foremost in mind.

But as we looked over the pictures from last summer's vacation, we couldn't help notice the glee in our mom's eyes as she "manned" the gunner's position on the USS North Caroline. Take a look below and judge for yourself.

So, it's important to bring family generations together, and summer vacations are great times to do it. While the grandchildren benefit greatly from this, the grandparents can have a grand time, too!

A Greek Horse and a Japanese Poem

There's a point in the rearing of children when they surpass the parents in computer knowledge. I can tell you when that was for me, personally, but I think it would make a great study for some PHD wannabe. The reason this subject appears in this blog? Well, let's take a look at the saying, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." This comes from the most famous (infamous) of Greek gifts, the Trojan Horse, laid at the gates of Troy by an apparently defeated Greek army. (Gotcha!)

More than 2000 years later, some little stream of computer bits (they're just ones and zeros, for crying out loud!), gets into our computer and fouls things up. And we get to thank the Greeks for naming that little stream of malicious software. We've been infected by a Trojan Horse.

We won't go into the nuts and bolts (and 1's and 0's) of it, but we were able to clean up our computer by using:
Spybot
AdAware
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
Spyware Detector

(Our Trend Micro PC-cillin failed to stop the Trojan from entering our computer gates)

So, I'm tempted to update all the kids and grandkids with our scheme for getting rid of the Trojan. But, I think they're ahead of us on the computer curve. At least they think they are. If so, maybe they'll browse this blog and learn a thing or two about effective malicious software removal tools.

Okay, now that the nasty Trojan business has been taken care of, let's end on poem, in a style from the other side of the world from Greece and Troy. Japan. Gotta love those haiku poems.

So, here's a picture and a haiku for the kids and grandkids.




Haiku (I can, can you?)

Knuckles white on bar;
training wheels came off today;
Dad holds wrench, arms crossed.

Memorial Day

If you're a parent or grandparent, we think it's important to hand down your family traditions to the youngsters. Holidays are like national traditions. This Memorial Day, as your family gathers for a picnic, ball game, the Indy 500, or your own special family gathering, take a few minutes to talk about the meaning of Memorial Day to the children. It always surprises us when we talk to children and ask them what they know about holidays. Often, the answer is very little. Let's not raise a generation of wannabes on Jay Leno's Jaywalkers segments. Let's teach our children national traditions.

Books and Boats

We'll be traveling to Michigan for a booksigning event on Saturday, June 7 (1-2::30 pm). Come by and say hello if you're in the area. The event is at The Book Blues Bookstore. Great name for a bookstore!

If you check out the bookstore's website, you'll see that they support a very worthy cause, Books for Soldiers, which we wholeheartedly endorse. After sending some of our own books, we received a very nice email from Afghanistan thanking us for helping fill out their base library.



Need more tips for summer travel with the kids and grandkids? Check out our article at Houseboat magazine.

Enjoy!

A Tip for Scholarships

Ah, the scholarship season is in full gear. Actually, we've been at it for months now (and months and months ...). Having 5 kids at institutions of higher learning is certainly a challenge. But as we tell our children, there's scholarship money out there, you just have to apply for it.

And so, the paperwork begins and then never stops. Time is precious, but the time spent on applying for scholarships can be well worth it. It's just that ..., well, it's boring and repetitive and there are just so many other better things to do.

We discovered that there's a great way to save time with the multitudes of applications. Start a file, either on paper or in a computer file, and have those stock answers handy. Keep a copy of your tax return in it, as well as any other financial information they ask for. Keep copies of any scholarships applied for. Many of the questions are repetitive. You'll say, "Hey, didn't I just answer that last month?" Just look in your folder, and BINGO, there's your answer.

We hope this tip helps!

Tearing Down an Old Shed

Okay, it's been in the works for years now. Tearing down the shed, the 50-year-old eyesore that's been falling apart, yet survived storm after storm and still housed to lawnmower, yard tools, and bicycle.

It was somewhat of an eyesore. Faded paint, missing pieces of tin from the roof, insect damage. But there an attachment to old things, even though wood rots and timbers sag. I'm a bit sad to see it go. The planks and timbers are loaded onto a large truck parked in the back yard. City maintenance drivers will haul them out on Monday. Bye bye, shed.

But a funny thing happened. When that old shed, that friend of mine, was finally gone, we noticed the three trees that had begun to grow around the perimeter of the shed formed some kind of aesthetic image. There was a picture of harmony out our back windows. Even our son, at no prompting of ours, commented on the symmetry of the three trees.

So, I'm thinking that this is much like a lot of things in life. There are things you hate to say good-bye to, things you hate to see go. And there's no way to foresee what the future will look like once those things are gone.

But ..., know what? Sometimes it's those unpredictable events that bring beauty to the world, a fresh perspective to our lives, and a new foundation on which to build a better future.

Good-bye, shed, you served us well ...

Thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom

We want to thank Susan and Janice, twin work-at-home moms for the wonderful things they said about The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

They're having a contest over at their "5 Minutes for Mom" website:
http://www.5minutesformom.com/

The winner gets a free copy of the book!

RSS Feeding to Amazon

If it all went well, we've just connected our ParentsWrite blog to our profile at Amazon.com via an RSS feed. As this is the first time we've worked with RSS (Really Simple Syndication), we're tickled that we got it to work (hopefully). Not too shabby for a couple of grandparents!

But then, that's one of the main points in our book, The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting. We're trying to break down those old stereotypes. Today's grandparents are active and do-ers. They're not sitting around on the porch rockers (well, not all the time anyway, as we were sitting on the porch last evening, watching thunderstorms roll by).

By the way, we've re-doubled our committment to blog on a regular basis, so stop by when you can. Better yet, link to our blog via an RSS feed!

A Tip for Summer Travel with the Grandkids

Bring a backpack for your grandkid. If your grandchild is bringing one along, great, otherwise you can give one as a gift. Depending on the trip, add appropriate items to the backpack: disposable camera, ID information, books or comic books, depending on age and interest.

Hand-wipes are always a good idea. Include a change of clothes, too, so your trip isn’t interrupted by lost luggage or a nasty spill.

Remember, summer vacations are special for children, and your grandchildren are no different.

Grandparenting!

We did it! The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting hit the shelves on May 6th. Both Doug and I have renewed our vows to blog on a regular basis, so look for more tomorrow.

Robin