One of the absolute best tips I received as a new grandma almost two decades ago was to always be the grandma on the floor. Of course, I asked what that meant. My friend explained that to really connect with your grandchild, you really have to spend all your time on the floor–at their level. […]
The Five Most Important Reasons Why and When NOT To Put Wedding and Family Photographs Away When The Parents of Our Grandchildren Get Divorced
November 13, 2022 By Leave a Comment
I have addressed this issue before, and seems that it is time to address it again. Sometimes simple answers do not provide a complete answer to a question. In the May 18, 2021, Washington Post, Ms. Manners answered the following question at the end of her advice column: “Dear Miss Manners: When your child gets […]
Sneakerheads, Hypebeasts, and Other Groups Are New to Boomers But AntiSemitism is the Oldest Prejudice That Has Now Again Infiltrated Our American Culture
November 6, 2022 By Leave a Comment
You know you are longer (we never say older) when some words your eleven year old grandson introduces you to and tries to explain are the subject of an article more than eight years old from 2014! “Sneakernomics: Are Sneakerheads important?” by Matt Powell, Forbes Magazine, May 21, 2014. Matt Powell defines sneakerheads: “A formal […]
How To Make Candy Coated Cake Pops Like Those Found at Starbucks At Home With or For Grandchildren
September 18, 2022 By Leave a Comment
It is dangerous to take grandchildren into Starbucks. These little balls of cake with frosting and sprinkles on a stick like a lollipop are a sweet target for them. At this link, read about how Starbucks teamed up with a company to supply their cake pops since 2010. At nearly $2 (and 165 calories each), […]
Warmable Stuffed Animals For Babies, Children, Ill and Infirm, and More, Oh My. This Grandma’s Successful Search for the Perfect Teddy Bear for the Perfect Four Year Old Grandson
August 26, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Our adorable four year old grandson’s teddy bear got eaten by the dog. I know we hear this excuse of “eaten by the dog” but he was so sincere and, of course, wanted this Grandma to replace it. So, no ordinary stuffed animal will do. I wanted to find something special and went on the […]
The Six Episodes of A Real Marriage of Movie Icons Paul Newman and JoAnn Woodward Will Provide Insight That Can Improve Your Own Relationship
August 13, 2022 By Leave a Comment
As a family court judge, I served to dissolve tens of thousands of marriages over twenty years. Ethan Hawke (I had heard of him but knew little of his talents) shows us, in six episodes streaming on HBO Max, “The Last Movie Stars,” a documentary of a real long term marriage of fifty years that […]
To Text, Message, Contact, “Like,” Just Because You Are Thinking of Someone Improves the Quality of Your Life, Especially for Boomers
July 29, 2022 By Leave a Comment
COVID has necessarily caused us to be distant. Even now when I bump into someone in public who I have not seen in a while who I normally would have greeted warmly, I instinctively put my hand up if they reach to come closer. I don’t even “air kiss” those I might have before COVID. […]
What Day(s) of the Week and What Time(s) Can I Leave My House To Most Likely Avoid A Mass Shooting in 2022
July 17, 2022 By Leave a Comment
What is safety in 2022? Safety enough to go to the local supermarket….or a local July 4th parade in a suburb with not a single murder from 2000 to 2020? See, “Highland Park Was Meant to be Chicago’s ‘Mayberry,’” by Ellen Almer Durston, Campbell Robertson and Dan Simmons, New York Times, July 6, 2022. This […]
The Best Advice to Give Our Sons and Grandsons After the Roe v. Wade Decision is to Wear A Condom Or They May Be Giving A Large Percentage of Their Net Income for Eighteen Years To A Woman Whose Last Name They May Not Even Know
July 9, 2022 By Leave a Comment
The above advice was how I started a speech to a professional legal group, mostly men, when I was a sitting Florida family court judge several years ago. At that time the percentage of net income for child support for one child was 17%. That is a hefty sum to pay for eighteen years. I […]
Grandchildren Will Love Easy To Make July Fourth Red, White and Blue Dessert Kebabs
July 2, 2022 By Leave a Comment
When Fourth of July rolls around, it is great to come up with red, white, and blue desserts to make with grandchildren. As with all the recipes, this Grandma recommends to make with grandchildren, they must be easy. Always remember to cover your kitchen counters and floors with old towels for easy cleanup! In 2021, […]
Divorce Should Always Be A Last Resort, Even For “Gray” Divorces, Part I
April 1, 2022 By Leave a Comment
In The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Monday, February 7, 2022, Amy Dickinson’s column concerned a thirty seven year marriage, and a wife in her sixties who is considering a divorce because she believes her husband is still involved with a woman he had an affair with thirty years earlier. He denies the relationship. The advice Amy […]
The Three Craft Toys That Grandparents Should Beware of Allowing Grandchildren To Play With At Their Homes
February 5, 2022 By Leave a Comment
This Grandma has given many cooking and baking tips for grandparents doing so with grandchildren, including cleaning tips, covering counters and floors with rags or old towels for the best and easy cleanup, when I venture to do so with them. Some of my grandma friends say their favorite blog post I wrote about cooking […]
We Grandparents Have the Opportunity To Expand the Universe For Us and Our Grandchildren By Sharing the Journey of the Miraculous Space Marvel, The Webb Telescope, and Its Discoveries To Come
January 29, 2022 By Leave a Comment
Grandparents can open grandchildren’s eyes to marvels of the world and expand their horizons, and in this case expand the universe for them. We have that opportunity before us now. PopPop and I were introduced to the twenty-five year work on the Webb Telescope’s creation on the television program, Sixty Minutes, “Looking Back in Time […]
We Boomers Have Been Waiting For the Exciting New Global News Organization Going to Be Started By Ben Smith, Media Columnist for the New York Times, and Justin Smith, Bloomberg Media Chief Executive Officer
January 15, 2022 By Leave a Comment
This Grandma, now retired, has the time daily and I read the local newspaper, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. On line, I read Apple News and Flipboard and most of the news articles published daily, PBS and BBC News. On TV, I watch […]
The Wiring in Grandma’s Brain is the Subject of A New 2021 Study and the Findings Reaffirm our Place in the World
January 7, 2022 By Leave a Comment
“You know that special bond your mother seems to have with your kids? The one she doesn’t seem to have with anyone else — even you? You’re not just imagining it, according to a new study.” This was the beginning of a CNN article, by Madeline Holcombe, November 19,2021, “Is Your Mom Warmer with her […]
Cars, Trucks, Construction Vehicles and Toys and Books Galore For Holiday Gifts 2021
November 21, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Having five grandsons means learning a lot about cars, trucks and construction vehicles. Our youngest grandson, age three, has a girl cousin, also age three. Watching them at his house playing with his cars, trucks and construction vehicles was enlightening. They both lined every matchbox size car in a row. They both use the flatbed […]
Honoring My Mother-In-Law Today and Forever
November 6, 2021 By Leave a Comment
Ten years ago, I wrote a blog post about my mother-in-law, “My Mother-in-Law, the Star,” honoring her and everything about her which made her special to me as a mother-in-law, and special to everyone in our family as our GG, great grandmother, and matriarch of our family. GG Lee was eighty-eight years old ten years […]
From Facebook About How Living Longer Brings Learning and Wisdom To Share to Improve Quality of Life
October 30, 2021 By Leave a Comment
This Grandma is new to social media. When I was a sitting judge in Florida, I was constrained from participating in social media. I never participated in Facebook and, retired from the bench, really enjoy it now. Posts from my friends and acquaintances keep me connected in this COVID era. I am reluctant to pass […]
