tips3

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TIPS FOR CYBER-GRANDPARENTS 3

"If your baby is 'beautiful and perfect, never cries or fusses,
an angel all the time', you're the grandparent."

~Theresa Bloomingdale "The Funny Side of Parenthood"

Make up stories that feature your grandchildren. Get them to help with the illustrations. Send the stories to other members of the family. Read

Cael's Birthday by Lyamm and Grammy

Send "I Love You" reminders often by e-mail. Other reminders might include: "You're the Greatest" and "You're my Favorite Girl". They just can't hear this too often.

Get your grandchildren to make predictions about upcoming events and then e-mail them to you. You can see if they come true. e.g. Name all the animals you will see when you go to the circus or Guess the date of the first snowfall or the first robin.

Find a word or saying that makes your grandchildren laugh. Send an e-mail with just that word. If we send Cael an e-mail that simply says "BIG EYE", he will laugh with his whole body. It reminds him of something funny Grammy can do with her glasses.

Practice spelling words together. Your grandchildren can e-mail you the weekly spelling list, and you can send back small pictures of each word, with a blank for spelling the word.

Lyamm's Spelling List

Send your grandchildren sites or images to remind them of fun things you did together. e.g. Seeing a moose on a drive around Prince George at

Go-Moose

Make up "Superhero Talltales" about the exploits of yourself or your grandchildren's parents as children. Exaggeration is the key! (e.g. Magnificent Mommy or Super Grammy) E-mail the stories to your grandchildren.

Create a simple Family Tree and e-mail it to your grandchildren. They can get help filling in the other branch from their other grandparents.

e.g. Lyamm and Cael's Roots

For more advanced information about Family Trees,

visit The Family Tree Maker

Take part in your grandchildren's pretend play. When you e-mail them, ask about the exploits of their "invisible friends".

Learn another language together. Exchange short messages in that language- e.g. Aujourd'hui il neige a Prince George. Quel est le temps a Mission? Have an online dictionary handy for translations. We like

Altavista Translations

Play e-mail "I Spy with my Little Eye": e.g. " I am sitting in my kitchen, and I spy something green." Your grandchildren can send their guesses and then take a turn spying something at their house. To make it a bit easier, you can send them pictures of the room you are sitting in. Then they will not have to remember details, especially if they are not really familiar with your house. If you do not have a digital camera or a scanner, you can have your photographs put on a floppy disk at your local camera shop.

Celebrate this day together. Is it a famous person's birthday, a holiday somewhere in the world, or an important date in history? Find out at:

The Any Day Page or Global Calendar 2000 or This Day in History

Then do some research on the Internet, in an encyclopedia, or at the public library to find out more. Make a birthday or holiday card, using a program like Photo Suite, or hand draw and scan. Draw a picture for the occasion. Share your findings or what you've made by e-mail

Play a Mystery Sound Effects Game by attaching the "mystery sound" to your e-message and getting your grandchildren to guess what it is. Try this one: MYSTERY SOUND We have found lots of sounds at:

Animal Sounds on the Net and Partners in Rhyme

Be the liaison between all the cousins in the family. Send them regular messages about what the others are doing.

Together you can create family songs that include everyone's name. You can take turn adding verses by e-mail. Have a look at:

Our Family Songs

Send pictures of your grandchildren's parents as children, ancestors, and relatives that they have not seen. Add captions to explain who the people in the pictures are.

We sent: Great Great Grandma

Present congratulatory e-cards for accomplishments, large and small- like losing her first tooth, using the potty, making a speech at school, completing a project. You can build a card at Postcard Maker or

make up your own with animated clipart from The Animation Factory

We made Lyamm's First Tooth Card

To add to your own knowledge, look on the Internet for information about your grandchildren's interests, talents, disabilities, problems, developmental stages. The more you know, the better you can help (when asked, of course).