Be Careful What You Ask For

We're writers. We like to write. We dream of selling books and signing publishing contracts. So, with two book contracts in one week, you'd think we're on Cloud 9. Well, we are, but that doesn't mean we're feeling maximum overload. Think about it. Doug has just sold his first mystery novel, The Dead Guy, to a wonderful new publisher, Aberdeen Bay Publishing. As the writing team of Doug and Robin, we've contracted for a book about college funding, based on the fact that we have five children in higher education and we're not paying a dime and neither are our kids!

But be careful what you ask for. The deadline for Doug's rewrite (and there is a request from the publishing company for a revision) is about three weeks. But at least it's a completed manuscript. For the scholarship book, we have plenty of notes, but other than that, we're starting from scratch. And we have a deadline of a couple of months on that. Yikes. We love to write and we've dreamed of having these opportunities, but for the moment time is stretching us so thin that we're becoming translucent. And don't even ask us about the transparencies nightmares.

Just kidding.

We're having a good time. Expect more updates soon.

Doug and Robin
www.HewittsBooks.com

A Parent's and Grandparent's Greatest Gift

We were watching a new show the other day. It was called Huckabee, and of course the show featured the former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee. During the show, Mike Huckabee took questions from the audience. A father-to-be asked for advice on how to be a good parent. After a bit of stumbling, Mike Huckabee hit it on the head. The greatest gift you can give, he said, is your time. Never forget that.



We agree.

Free College Money

After writing The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting, we decided to write something we believe many parents have a great need for. And that is? Free college money, of course. We realized that sending 5 children to college and other institutions of higher education for virtually free, that we have a plan, a set of techniques, that would be beneficial to other parents looking to save money on sending children to college. We believe we have a publisher, and we're going to angle to have this book published as soon as possible, probably in the spring of 2010. Actually, that's about as fast as it gets in the publishing world. We're excited about this book, and we'll provide updates as often as possible.

Summer Vacation

We're back from vacation. Carolina Beach is a wonderful getaway, and the beaches are excellent. That is, not crowded, beautiful sand, and a fishing pier. Of course, we took our grandkids. The highlights were teaching them to surf. Not that we can do it, but we at least know the theory of successful surfing. And we met with success! Just think of the wonderful memories our grandchildren will have as they go through life, thinking back to the summer they spent with the grandparents, learning how to surf. (By the way, we made sure they wore personal flotation devices (PFDs), formerly known as life preservers.) For more great ideas on bonding with your grandchildren, be sure to look through our book The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting.

Summer Reading List

We encourage our grandchildren to read books during the summer. A few weeks ago, we visited a bookstore with them and "helped" them pick out books. Actually, we let them pick out whatever they want, then we add a couple of our suggested reading titles. Doug is going to read Eragon this summer, along with our grandson Gavin. It'll be great for them to talk together about the book, discuss plot points, and enjoy the highlights together.

Here, then, are a few titles that should be on every grandchild's reading list, at some point or another during their upbringing.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
Where the Wild Things Are
Eragon
Big Red


Of course, Newbery Award winning books are usually very good.

The most important thing is that the grandkids read. It'll give them a huge advantage in the coming school year, sure, but it also rounds them out as human beings.

Summer Travel Tip

When going on vacation this summer, it's a good idea to plan for the unexpected.

Practice good safety routines. Always write the names of your grandchildren (actually, this applies to parents and their children as well), address, and several contact phone numbers on labels to place inside both shoes and backpacks. Write down medical insurance information on tags that they have with them. This could save vital time if you have the information handy when a medical situation involving the grandkids arises.

Another Summer Grandparenting Tip

If you're vacationing this summer with your grandchildren, consider giving them the following "assignment." Take pictures for your summer vacation journal.

But one-time use cameras for your grandchildren. Give the cameras to the grandkids before the start of the vacation. Make sure they understand each camera has only 24 (or 27) pictures, so they'll have to make sure each picture counts!

Over the course of your vacation with the grandkids, make sure they capture those special Kodak moments. After the vacation, get the pictures developed and look them over with your grandchildren. Make a vacation journal, and make sure the grandkids know they can have a copy if they want one.

The great thing about the pictures is that the grandchildren will remember that they were the "go to" people in the photojournalism adventure, and at the same time, they'll develop stronger ties to their grandparents!