We are lucky to be grandparents in this wonderful, sometimes frustrating, technology age. We can still stay in touch with our grandchildren whether we are around the corner, around the world, or somewhere in between. With online scrapbooks, digital photo albums, webcam sites, interactive games and more, grandparents and grandchildren can stay in touch, stay connected, and visit often just with a few clicks. (more…)

When you’re cooking in the kitchen,
You’re learning all the while –
To pour and measure, mix and stir
And sift flour into a pile.

Scrub your hands before you start
Then gather up the gear –
Like pots’n pans and measuring cups
That you use throughout the year.

Go over the recipe, step-by-step,
So you’ll know just what to do.
By carefully following the directions,
It won’t be hard for you.

Have a hot pad handy
And an adult standing by –
So you won’t hurt yourself
When using the stove or baking a pie.

Besides the fun and learning,
There’s always cleaning up to do,
And even though it’s quite a chore,
It’s part of cooking too.

But after all the work is done,
It will soon be time for dinner.
And when someone asks for seconds,
You’ll know you’ve cooked a winner!

~ Author Unknown ~

Interesting Facts About Culinary Arts

Culinary artists are those known today as the ones responsible for the presentation of your salad, entree, or dessert. There is one restaurant we enjoy on the Jersey Shore that serves salads that are a work of art - I feel guilty when I disturb it.

The culinary arts is one of the fields of study that is currently in at the top of the list among many young people who enjoy creating eye appealing dishes. There are many culinary schools offering training. So if you have a grandchild that you are raising or very close to, encourage them to continue with their interest in culinary arts.

Here are some interesting facts about culinary arts:

• Cooking was once considered the woman’s job. Today there are more men in the culinary profession than women.
• The Boston Cooking School was opened in 1800 as the first culinary arts school.
• The first cookbook was written in 1896 by Fannie Merrit Farmer. It included culinary art.
• The first TV cooking show began in 1946 by James Beard where he was able to demonstrate culinary art to many interested viewers.
• The first career-oriented culinary arts school was the Culinary Institute of America, now located in NYC.

College isn’t for everyone and even though the high schools would like to boast that most of their students go on to college, culinary arts schools are also considered to be post-secondary schools. Cooking classes in high school are great for those students who need to be moving around and very actively involved with hands-on learning. I know of one such student who went on to a 2-year program in culinary arts and became the owner of a very large, successful restaurant chain.

With talent, will, and determination…anything is possible in the culinary arts careers.

The same day I received a poem written by a grandmother in Australia for her new granddaughter, we received a phone call from our granddaughter Kaitlin…

The phone rang. It was Kaitlin, our seven-year-old granddaughter and we could hear her two-and-a-half year old sister next to her. Kaitlin sounded so grown up when she asked for…Poppy!  “Don’t you want to talk to Nana?” Kaitlin said she wanted both of us on the phone, which I thought was very diplomatic of her.

Poppy gets on the other phone, we’re both sitting in the living room on cordless phones now. Poppy says, “Hi, Tinker!” There is silence…and we wait…then we hear, “Do you want another grandchild?” Then there is silence…ours…maybe they’re getting a puppy? So we answer What? Who? (Grandparents can be so dumb sometimes…) She yells, “Mommy!” 

So, Mommy gets on the phone and says, “Beginning of May.”  We say, “Uh, Oh” (after we congratulate eveyone, of course)…her brother’s wedding is the end of May and the next Saturday was when we would be shopping for bridesmaids dresses.  There will be some last minute alterations to be made…

It is amazing how the circle of life goes on. A month after my father-in-law passed away, our first daughter was born. After a dear friend passed, our second daughter was born. A week after my father passed away, our son was born. Now about one month after my mother-in-law has passed, we find we will have a third grandchild in the Spring, a time of rebirth…perhaps on Mother’s Day?

Spring is going to be exciting and crazy around here, and I can’t wait!

Handprint poems, photos, and crafts are very popular gifts to give to grandparents. Grandchildren’s handprints can be the center of fun grandparent and grandchildren fun activities, too.

Last week, Poppy and I took Emily and Kaitlin to the beach for some sun and fun before we all had to go back to school this week (except for Poppy).

This is a digital photo of Emily’s (2 1/2) handprint. Next time I’m going to take a better picture. And, of course, I’ll take one of Kaitlin’s too, one of their hands together, one of Poppy’s and my hands, and one of all our hands in the sand as keepsakes of our fun in the sun at the Jersey shore. I’ll frame each of the 5 photos in a square frame and display them along the stairway hall.

If you have time to get to the beach or have a sandbox, gather the grandchildren and a digital camera and snap away! It will be fun for your grandchildren to compare sizes and differences of the hands in the sand and digital photos.  Let your grandchildren take pictures, too and display them along with your photos.

For more fun, take different objects and press them into the sand, then vary the distance and lighting for added effects. It is also a good lesson in cause and effect besides making comparison.

Enjoy your time together while you can…it goes so fast!  Whenever you are with your grandchildren, it is always a Grandparent and Grandchildren Day…a special day.

With my grandchildren’s great-grandmother passing away this past week, I am concerned about how they will react as time goes on. They attended the viewing and the burial ceremony. Kaitlin, the oldest of the two great-granddaughters placed drawings into the coffin from the two of them for Mom-Mom to take with her to Heaven. The person she saw did not look like her Mom-Mom that she remembered for she had lost too much weight. Perhaps that was a blessing. The casket was then closed before friends and relatives arrived to pay their respect.

I’ve searched for books to help us help Kaitlin and Emily with the questions that may be asked when the realization that they won’t see their great-grandmother again sets in. Here are some that I have found online:

	When Someone Very Special Dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief A practical format for allowing children to understand the concept of death and develop coping skills for life.
	I Miss You: A First Look At Death When a close friend or family member dies, it can be difficult for children to express their feelings. This book helps boys and girls understand that death is a natural complement to life, and that grief and a sense of loss are normal feelings for them to have following a loved one’s death.
	Help Me Say Goodbye: Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person Dies An art therapy and activity book for children coping with death. Sensitive exercises address all the questions children may have during this emotional and troubling crisis.
	Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs Originally published in 1973, this autobiographical picture book was one of the first to introduce very young children to the concept of death.
	Healing Your Grieving Heart for Teens: 100 Practical Ideas (100 Ideas Series) Each page presents a different idea designed to help teens recognize mourning as a natural process connected with loss, reassuring them that they should not be afraid of deep, sometimes uncontrollable emotions, and showing them how to release grief in healthy, positive ways.

Since grief is a very personal emotion, so may be your choice of self-help books. Search Amazon.com further for more selections on grieving.