Time And Money Management Where Grandchildren Are Involved

I have 4 grandchildren still living at home with their parents. Sometimes it gets pretty hectic trying to give all of them some individual attention without ending up feeling like a frazzled dishrag myself.

The key that works for me is to set aside an hour or two for each child every month. For the smaller girls, who are 4 and 6, I call it a "grandma's day." For the older boy and girl, who are 13 and 16, I just ask them if they want to get together with me for whatever I have planned for them that month. Each of them ends up feeling special, but grandma doesn't get pulled in 4 directions at once.

Luckily, I have a digital camera that goes along with me on every outing. Even if I don't spend a cent on them during the outing, I try to get the pictures on a disc and into their hands within a few days so that they will have a permanent record of whatever we chose to do that day. I ask for boxes of discs for Christmas and Mothers' Day, so even they are free to me. Later, if I want, I can put all the pictures of each child's outings on a single disc showing the date, and give them a disc with the complete year of our activities together all on one disc. (I might even get the old discs back to reuse for further outings; an added benefit.)

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JEANNE'S ARTICLES

You are right, Toad

Sometimes I wonder if it might not be nice to move a couple of thousand miles away and stay for about 10 years, but then I realize I would miss out on some of the best experiences of my life.

That's nice Jeanne

sounds like you have your hands full with four grandchildren...some of my fondest memories of my childhood were with my grandparents...you are living a blessed life indeed.
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