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!

Summer Grandparenting Tip

Here's a quick tip if you're a grandparent going on vacation with your grandhchildren this summer.

Take a trip to a souvenir shop. Have your grandchildren pick out ten postcards (each).

Later, get postage stamps and put them on the postcards. As the vacation winds down, give the postcards to the grandchildren. Ask them to keep them safe until they get home. Then over the course of the next few months, they should write a sentence or two and mail one of the postcards to you (at whatever time interval you think is best).

Not only will the grandchild remember the vacation with the grandparent with each mailing, they'll become better writers! (And isn't penning letters becoming a lost art?) And of course, you'll get the scoop on how the rest of their summers go.

Gas Prices

Okay, we've been away a few days. Doug has been working 12-hour shifts, and Robin has been writing articles for the Carolina Coastal Guide.

And ..., we drove our son David to Appalachian State College for orientation. And ... we went to Wilmington for research ..., sigh, where does time go?

But ..., we did have a few thoughts about gas prices. Everyone knows how they've jacked up in recent weeks/months. The curious aspect about it, though, is that nobody with inner knowledge seems to agree on the reason. C'mon, there have been Senate committee meetings and no one's the wiser? Speculators on the futures markets get some blame, according to reports. And some say that supply is an issue in the face of growing demand. Others might thing this is a ploy by lobbyists to get drilling in the Atlantic ocean and in Alaska. BUT ..., here's some speculation.

What if bin Laden and his cronies got their act together and figured out the best way to crash the American economy was to force the price of gas to 10 dollars a gallon. First, let's agree that this price would definitely have the potential of crashing the economy. Most foods get shipped via transportation that has the rising costs of diesel and gas. The price increase hits us not only in the gas tank, but in the food basket as well.

Well, crashing the twin towers didn't work, so how about jacking up the price of gas at the pump?

It just ... might ... work.

We're not suggesting that this is actually being carried out. We're just saying that nobody has given a convincing reason for why the prices are going up. And if we don't know, maybe bin Laden does.

Another Haiku

We just got back from Wilmington, NC. What a wonderful city!

But, we're pressed for time, so today's blog will be a simple haiku for parents.

Cold late moonless sight;

backyard black except one light;

kids in tents at night.

Haiku and WCU

We drove our youngest son to orientation at Western Carolina University (WCU). There's no empty nest syndrome here yet, but we can certainly understand why it occurs. Off they go to college, out of our daily lives, and we miss them. But we're proud of their independence. It is what we strove for. Why should we be sad when they achieve it?

We can think back to when they were newborns and toddlers. Which brings us to this haiku.

Baby builds future
with 1, 2, 3; A, B, C;
wooden building blocks.

Remember to visit us at HewittsBooks.

Want help raising your kids or grandkids?

These books will help:
The Practical Guide to Weekend Parenting
The Joyous Gift of Grandparenting