Always Listen To Your Mama

"Susie, your blogs are good but not as good as your old ones," Mom told me recently.

"That's because I have less time to write them."

I continue, "Do you want the more personal ones again?"

"Yes."

Here goes:

It used to be that most families went through the process of marriage as follows:

Boy meets girl, boy woos girl, girl plays hard-to-get, boy wins girl, boy asks girl's father for girl's hand in marriage, girl's father says okay, boy proposes to girl, girl asks if boy asked father for her hand in marriage, boy says yes, girl says yes, and so on.

Not in my family with our younger child:

Boy and girl meet, they woo each other, neither plays hard-to-get, boy and girl make first purchase with comingled funds, a Roomba, girl suspects boy is going to ask father for girl's hand in marriage and alerts father, boy asks father for hand in marriage, father says okay even though he knows that they'll do as they d--n well please, girl says yes, boy and girl try to make second purchase together, a house.

"Susie, did lawgirl and soda man (not their real names) get the house?" Mom asks.

"No, Mom. I'll let you know when I hear from them."

Next day:

"Susie, did lawgirl and soda man get the house?"

"No, Mom. I will definitely let you know when I hear from them."

Next day:

"Susie, did lawgirl and soda man get the house?"

"No, Mom. I promise to let you know when I hear from them."

Yesterday:

"Guess what, Susie," Mom said, "They got the house!!!"

"Oh. I didn't know that."

Where It's Great to be Grand: Grandparents.com

Grandparents.com always has great ideas. Just recently it featured 13 grandparents sharing outdoor summer activities they do with their own grandchildren that strengthens their bonds:

1. Run or maybe walk to the park

2. Plant a veggie garden

3. Pull that bathing suit out of the drawer and play in the pool

4. Camp in your backyard (sleep in the tent, sing, make s'mores)

5. Make your own rules to old games--get the ball over the net any which way you can

6. Smell the roses and watch the birds

7. Go take a hike--really

8. Go to the beach--boat, build sandcastles, draw in the sand, picnic

9. Climb the jungle gym and slide

10. Scavenge for art supplies in the great outdoors--find the pine cone, sticks, leaves

11. Travel to a national park

12. Go fish (not the card game)

13. Rollerblade (a little too daring for me!)

Find out more how to be a super grandparent and take advantage of the grandparenting resources in your community.

Generations Battle Over Gift Registries

Yesterday it was "Battle of the Generations" at our house.  Law-girl (LG) and Soda-man (SM) represented 20 and 30-somethings versus Unstoppable Grandma (UG), our prize-winning (a real tiger on the bowling alley), slot-machine-wizard, tells-it-how-it-is 80-something.

You see, LG and SM are getting married this year. They have been stewing over what to put on their gift registry.

UG has her own ideas for a registry should any of her buddies decide to take the plunge.

LG & SM UG

Gourmet food Ensure

Car Motorized wheelchairs/scooters

Hawaii Branson, Missouri

Fine dining Early bird buffets

Negligees Flannels

Frilly slippers Comfy slippers & warm socks

Ikea Lazy Boy

Crate & Barrel Tuesday Morning

Martinis Prune juice

Stainless Plastic

Intimates Depends

Dinner napkins Bibs

Suitcase Tote bag

China Paper plates

Glassware Plastic cups

Home entertainment TV (without rabbit ears)

iPod Radio

Blackberry Pad and paper

Kitchen utensils & appliances Can opener

Money Money

I'll place my bets on UG.  How about you?

For more about what's important to 50somethings and older, visit www.50somethinginfo.com.

Staying Connected With Grandchildren

Stay connected with your grandchildren. But how, you ask? Marty Norman suggests you email, plant gardens, send tape-recorded stories, create a story with their name, provide them with a laminated list of your phone numbers and much more. You can even find her suggested gift ideas including a Vtech Kidizoom Multimedia Digital Camera (Camouflage)

This is one lady who aims to impact the lives of her grandchildren. Luckily (for us) she shares her advice in Generation G: Advice for Savvy Grandmothers Who Will Never Go Gray

You don't have to burden your brain to create ideas for developing wholesome relationships with the kiddies. Marty does it for you!