Those of us that work at home will be around when the trick or treaters come to the door, in fact, maybe everyone will be home as I think Halloween is on a weekend this year! Some may find those knocks at the door to be a bit frustrating if you are trying to get work done, but if you plan on the day, and plan to enjoy it, it can be fun! I miss the days when my children were young enough to go trick-or-treating…but still enjoy the experience of having many come to the door throughout the day from my neighborhood.
I like healthy things, and enjoy finding healthy treats for kids, right now there’s a Trick or Treat Me campaign going on that promotes good nutrition for kids, and doing so in an environmentally friendly way. Kids are expecting to get candy, and lots of it, on Halloween…so it’s hard to disappoint them by giving them what you might consider as being healthy that they will toss into the trash can.
So when the little ones come to the door and say “trick or treat”, or maybe in their little childlike way “Twick or Tweet Me” consider giving something different…everyone loves Chocolate, kids like Chocolate Milk, how about small drink containers of chocolate milk that do not have to be refrigerated so they will last along with your children’s other goodies for a while unless they drink it before it gets home?
As a Nutritionist, I know this isn’t perfectly healthy, but it’s a great compromise, and a unique idea…I like it!
Visit any of the live links on this page to learn more about the Trick or Treat Me Campaign.
Today I received an email from a WAHG who visited this blog and wanted to share, and I’m hoping she doesn’t mind that I’m sharing what she wrote with you. What a unique craft she does, and what a beautiful website! Enjoy what she shares, and read the birthdates of each of her children! Amazing!
My name is Karen. I have three grown children (all born on February 7th- 1972, 1982, and 1984). I have five grandchildren, ages 4, 5, 7, 12, and 17. We all moved four years ago to the country on sixty acres of land, each building their own house, and now we are not only family, but we are neighbors as well. We love it and I especially love being close enough to my grandkids that they can just walk down for lunch or ice cream whenever they want!
I love being a grandmother, but I also love working at home, owning my own craft business and making money at it. I have sewn all my life, being taught by my own grandmother, and mother. And the fact that I can enjoy what has always been my biggest hobby, and make it into a business that allows me to make a little extra money is just the cherry on top of the sundae!!
My business is Lilybella, and you can read more about me on my website. I make handmade oilcloth items for children and women. I have this passion for oilcloth that I just can’t seem to get past. I can’t get enough of it. I started out just making cute little things for my grandchildren, and it just blossomed into more and more things as time went on. It is so much fun to create new things to sew with oilcloth. When I wake up in the morning, I can’t wait to get to work. I even have my granddaughters in on the fun. They love to come down and play with the oilcloth and think of all kinds of ways to play with it. The oilcloth bracelets were actually the idea on my 7 year old granddaughter who wants to make jewelry out of everything she sees. It is just fun and I enjoy sharing it with everyone out there. I hope someday, my granddaughters will want to carry on where I leave off, but if not, it will be fun while it lasts!
So, I just wanted to put my two cents worth in…. That you can be a creative, businesswoman, grandmother all at the same day. I thank my lucky stars everyday for my life, my family, and the ability to enjoy doing what I love every day!
Karen Hulshouser
www.Lilybella.com
Hallo all,
Thanks, Claudia, for creating a community of work-at-home grandmothers.
What a neat idea!
This is my introductory post, and I’ll make it about emigration and extended families.
I emigrated from Holland to Canada with my geologist husband in 1969 at the age of 25. I have never been sorry for a single moment, but only recently have we started to realize how much the next generation is deprived of extended family.
I come from a close, matriarchal family.
My mother had 4 sisters and her father died when Mom was 12. “Oma van Eijk” was definitely a presence in our childhood.
I was always a bit scared of her, and did not like the way us kids had to behave better than normal (we were really pretty good) when Oma came to stay with us. We did have some good times together when I went to stay with her in her home. But I did not start to fully appreciate her courageous and difficult life till long after she was gone.
My father’s parents were more fun, especially since they lived in a downstairs flat with, oh joy! a backyard with an apple tree, a gap in the hedge that led to Opa’s brother’s backyard next door, and even a few chickens at the end of the yard.
Besides that Oma only 5 feet tall, if that, and was a lot of fun to measure yourself against.
When I met my husband his redoubtable and remarkable grandmother on mother’s side was still alive. “Moele” lived in a huge home filled with antiques and souvenirs of her many years in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. She organized a lavishly catered family reunion every Christmas season where all the nieces and nephews gathered. She told us (in 1965) that she wanted to stay alive to see a man land on the Moon. She did. Quite a lady.
I can’t say the extended family was a daily part of our lives, but there was definitely a network of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents that one took for granted and it was there in the background.
My parents used to visit here a lot, Mom almost once a year. But none of my siblings had kids, for various reasons. The family tree has shrunk instead of expanded. Four kids, two grandchildren, one great-grand, at least so far. There is still hope :).
This leaves my children in the world without cousins on that side of the family. My husband’s sisters had 5 kids between them, but his family is less close than ours.
This was simply not a big deal when they were growing up. We were part of a rural “back-to-the-land” community, with friends taking the place of family. But the young have all scattered, as they must to find more opportunity than a small resource town can offer.
Fortunately our daughter married into a small but close family and her in-laws live in the same town as us. We are good friends, so we are creating an extended family in that way. It is great!
There really ought to be a word for sideways relations. What do you call people with whom you share a grandchild? Our grandson, who will remain un-named because my girl guards her privacy, has cousins on his father’s side. The other grandparents of those cousins live here too, and have kindly included us in a sort of sideways extended family. We have even had Christmas at their place.
What do you call people whose grandchildren are cousins to your grandchild?
We need to enrich this language!
Anyway, that’s enough for now….
Ien in the Kootenays, Mother of daughter, 33, who just got her PhD in microbiology, and son, 28, a geologist like Dad who is moiling for gold in the NorthWest Territories, one brilliant grandson, 9.
I market wild whole foods products for middle-aged women who are so exhausted and muddled that they can’t even finish their own sentences anymore, like I used to be, and I have a special interest in keeping kids with ADD off drugs! Don’t be afraid to ask, I don’t believe in “selling” and will gladly share everything I have learned on ADD. My businesses live here:
http://wildhealing.net/
http://wildwholefoods.com/
Are you a grandparent still trying to figure out what you should get your grandchildren for Christmas?
If you’re like me, you’re probably skeptical about buying any toys since there has been so many recalls in connection with the potential lead danger.
My grandchild is 14-months-old. This is his FIRST real Christmas and he’s still too young to understand the concept of giving and receiving gifts. Therefore, this is my prime opportunity to shape his little mind into what Christmas really means—from grandma’s perspective.
Here are a few of my ideas:
1) Give the Gift of History: Create a family album full of pictures and narratives of the make-up of your grandchild’s family. It’s a keepsake you can add onto year after year and will become invaluable when your grandchild becomes an adult.
2) Give a “Special Grandparent” Album: Create a “Grandpa/Grandma and Me” photo album or scrapbook to show how much you treasure your relationship. Gather photos from your visits, or postcards and other memorabilia from places you went together. Be sure to include any special drawings your grandchild made for you and funny photos that bring back precious memories for them to remember.
3) Create an Audio Book: Find out what you types of books your grandchildren like to read and then send a book and a tape of yourself reading it in your most wonderfully expressive grandparent voice. If you don’t get to visit often, hearing your voice regularly will help kids stay connected to you. Your read-along audio book will also help develop their reading skills.
4) Write a Personalized Book: Create a book especially for your grandchild. You could put their picture on the cover and call it: Grandma Loves (grandchild’s name) or The Adventures of Grandma and (grandchild’s name).
5) Special Outing or Activity: If you live nearby, or are planning a visit soon, give a promise to take your grandchild on an outing you know hoe or she will like. Make sure you take lots of pictures or videotape the event and then send it to them as a keepsake of a Very Special Christmas with Grandma and (grandchild’s name).
The younger the grandchildren are makes these type of gifts more effective. It is also important to make sure your adults children emphasize the value of the gifts you’re giving to their children.
Recent Comments