Just Because You Can
Sometimes you just want to do something memorable with or for your grandchildren. Random Grandmother gifts – just because you love them. And it doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money.
Gifts and activities for 2-3 year olds
- A simple ‘baby chino’ at the coffee shop will make them feel very ‘grown-up’ and special
- Match box cars suddenly appear in your handbag
- Tennis ball, any ball really
- Dress up costumes – best bets: Spiderman for boys and fairies for girls, old handbags, hats, jewellery
- Setting up cubby houses and tunnels (chairs and blankets or commercial products)
- A bag of balloons to blow up together and hit around the room
- A pair of children’s sunglasses just for when they are with you
- Share a chocolate biscuit with them
- Playing ‘chasey’ – and letting them catch you
- Holding their hand as they walk along the top of a wall
- Giving them tasks to do to ‘help’ you – dusting, cleaning, chopping mushrooms or shelling peas for dinner, icing cakes. There might be mess after but what joy to watch them take the tasks seriously
- Showing that you know about computer stuff too. Check out ABC 4 kids – pre-school video, games, playroom and more
- Sit with them and visit the Playschool and Bananas in Pyjamas websites
- Read to them
Gifts and activities for 4-5 year olds
- Playing ball in the backyard
- Providing a paint brush, a bucket of water and letting them paint pictures on the brick walls of your house
- Giving them some chalk and letting them draw on the pavement
- Taking them to the park
- Sharing colouring-in and completing puzzles
- Teach them craft activities (painting, sculpture, knitting, crochet, sewing)
- A slinky (the best toy and very cheap!)
- Sit with them and watching their favourite TV show
- Share computer activities
- Make some play-dough for them
- Start a collection of animals figurines – a new one appears every now and then
- Put some music on and dance or sing with them
- Read with them
- Discuss why clouds happen and where they are going
Gifts and activities 6-10 years
- Random surprises of books, games and lollies
- Things that make them feel ‘grown-up’ and part of your world – short bursts of joining you with gardening, cooking, and shopping. Helping them learn important skills of self reliance
- Taking them to the movies
- ‘Finding’ a new DVD in the cabinet
- Taking them to the local agricultural show
- Sending them a letter or parcel in the post – lollies, a card, a small toy (www.candycrate.com)
- A hoola hoop – you show them how to do it
- Mazes and word puzzle books
- Organise a trip to a TV studio such as the ABC in (http://www.abc.net.au/tours/) – not available all states
- Visit ABC3.com.au for all sorts of interesting stuff for 6-15 year olds
- Skipping rope
- Note; Toy sales are often held in school holidays so watch out for special deals to hid in the cupboard
Gifts and activities for 11-15 year olds
Ask if they would like to join you at a celebrity event (suitable for their interests). For example check out the events held by the ABC TV (http://www.abc.net.au/commercial/events/)
Show them how to build a house of cards
Show real interest in their lives – “How’s school?” won’t elicit much response other than ‘ok’ – try
- What’s your favourite subject? Why?
- Did anything funny happen today?
- Who’s your best friend? Why?
- What don’t you like to find in your lunch box?
- What was the best thing that happened today?
Gifts and activities for 16-20 year olds
If you’re lucky the grand-kids might visit, but don’t expect it. Think back – this was your time to develop the beginnings of independence, adventure, and possibilities. If you do see them, I suspect the best thing you can do is listen. Even if just to the grunts of the boys and the general disdain of the girls they will appreciate it.
If you have a savings account for them that they don’t know about, hang on to it until you think they are mature enough to handle the money (about 25 for many!)
or
Getting a couple of special concert tickets might get their attention!
You might even (quietly) be a moral compass, a beacon of light for an emerging adult. Taking the time to explain how once the freedom and choice to be an engineer, carpenter, doctor or mechanic was not available to girls and that right came at a cost to many in earlier times. That men went to war in died in great numbers and many were not welcomed home. That some liberties of clothing, property ownership and healthy lives that are now taken for granted (even by their parents) were not that long ago shakles on opportunities of personal success.
From your experiences, talk to them about consequences of actions, reputation, reliability, responsibility and accountability. It might mean waiting for opportunities that don’t sound like lectures but your legacy might just be that one or two more children grow up to be wonderful adults with a great deal to give to benefit the world.
Remember when?
- wearing clothes to work that showed your shoulders would get you sent home from work (pre 1974)
- you called your boss ‘Mr’
- at under 21 you had to get your parent’s permission to have a credit card, own property, get married
- voting was for over 21’s
- you wore hat and gloves to Sunday School
- you sat up straight at the table and didn’t speak unless spoken to and did not leave the table without permission
- you could only buy fruit and vegetation in season (there was no broccoli, ever)
- not many people in the world got to vote – it’s a responsibility to keep it real
- people used to write letters which could take weeks to be delivered
- shops weren’t open after 12 on Saturday or at all on Sunday
- ladies weren’t allowed in the public bar
Share your stories and challenges with your grandchildren. You might find they are interested and learn to value just how much freedom they have.
21 years old
With any luck you are acknowledged at their 21st birthday as a role model for wise words and unconditional support!
