Reading with small children helps them learn the building blocks of language. It also introduces them to stories, which are a rich, vital part of human life. Books can ignite their imagination and curiosity, and the right books can entertain them for long stretches. And for grandparents, it’s a lovely way to share time together, even if it’s only over video chat.

But how do you keep the attention of a squirrely two-year-old, or a three-year-old with better things to do? The secret to picking books for your grandchildren is finding ones that demand their attention: books that ask them questions, encourage them to jump around, or are filled with silliness. These interactive stories will keep toddlers and preschoolers tuned in.

The following books all have a collaborative element that goes beyond lifting the flap, and are fun for the reader as well as the child. Click on any book cover to learn more about it and order it from Amazon!

​A few of you have asked us to recap the posts that covered the many ways that grandparents can help out if they can’t be there physically when a new baby arrives. Work schedules, finances, geography, ill health—not to mention a pandemic: there are many reasons why you may not be able to be on the scene to help the new parents. That doesn’t mean you can’t help out, though. Here’s a quick run down of the services we covered in past weeks:

Breastfeeding resources
Katie Clark, a Certified Lactation Educator through CAPPA, leads us through the services a lactation expert can provide to new mothers, and how grandparents can make sure parents get the support they need. Read the post.

Post-partum doula
Sheryl Cooksley of Family Tree Doula Services explains the emotional, physical, and instructional support that doulas can provide to new parents. She shares how grandparents can get involved in the process of finding a doula to join the new family support team. Read the post.

Family sleep consultant
A new mom shares her experience with Rest to Your Nest’s Mary Cantwell, a family sleep coach who crafted a plan to address the family sleep challenges. Because everything is easier with enough sleep! Read the post.

Meals, house cleaning, and laundry
Meal prep services abound, and there is one for every budget and palate. Home cleaning services are widely available, and having someone else mop the floor and scrub the shower is a true gift to new parents. Almost every town has a dry cleaners or laundromat that offers “wash, dry and fold”, and many offer pick up and delivery—making this service even more convenient. Read the post.

Are there any other services grandparents can help provide when they can’t be there in person? Please leave a comment if you know of any to add to the list!

65% of grandparents use Facebook—the same rate as the rest of the population.  Clearly, the image of the teenager having to help his grandmother set up a Facebook account is outdated. Even the great-grandparents are on social media now.

There’s a good reason: Social media is a convenient and powerful way to stay in touch with family and friends. For grandparents, it’s also a bridge between generations. You may not be on the scene for all the milestones of your new grandbaby’s life, but if mom or dad is posting updates on Facebook, you’ll see them almost as they happen. You may not get regular phone calls from your granddaughter, but if she lets you follow her on Instagram, you’ll get a carefully curated glimpse into her life. 

These interactions can strengthen your relationships. Knowing what is going on in your family’s world helps spark conversation. It also allows you to offer support when they may need it, without them having to ask. This is especially valuable when your grandchildren are teenagers and young adults, but it’s important to know how to navigate the intricacies of social media etiquette. Even making or accepting a friend request can be a landmine!

If you pick up Camp Grandma expecting a book to help you plan a week of fun activities for your grandchildren, you may find it lacking. If you pick it up looking for ways to deepen your relationship with your grandchildren, pass along your gifts and values, or help them become successful adults, you won’t be disappointed.

Marianne Waggoner Day approaches time with her grandchildren as a retired corporate executive. The lessons she takes from her time in the business world are among the values she wants to pass along to her four grandchildren. She established Camp Grandma to “establish a structure where my four grandkids could come together and through shared experiences truly learn about each other and maybe more about themselves.”

She compares Camp Grandma to a corporate retreat for kids, where they learn about setting agendas and goals, giving presentations, and teamwork. And while she outlines the activities she does with her grandkids, she emphasizes that the book is not meant to be a blueprint for others. Instead, she hopes readers will find the inspiration to pass our own talents to our grandchildren.

This book will be most useful for grandparents who are lucky enough to care for their grandchildren on a regular basis, or who can carve out dedicated time with them during the summer. However, the ideas are valuable for all grandparents, and I recommend you get a copy today!

Have you read Camp Grandma? What did you think?

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It’s time for a virtual field trip!
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Have you ever taken your grandchildren to an art museum? Even babies respond to being in a place with new things to look at, and exposing young children to a wide variety of great art introduces them to the idea of diversity in our world. Plus, between the ages of 2 and 5, creativity explodes. If we nurture it, it is likely to become a life-long characteristic.

Of course, many of us aren’t able to take our grandchildren anywhere right now. So why not send the art museum to them? That’s what I just did, and it was a big hit. What did it include?

You do everything you can to keep your grandchildren safe.
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You pay attention to the way they sleep, make sure the car seat is installed correctly, and don’t let them ride off on their bike without their helmet. But there are dangers in the world that go beyond the physical—and one is a danger that didn’t exist when your own children were young. If you are one of the 75% of grandparents who use social media, you may be endangering your grandchildren in a way you never considered.

​Facebook and Instagram have replaced the pictures of their grandchildren that grandmothers used to carry. Now instead of pulling out their wallet to show off the latest, grandparents share those photos with their friends on social media. And unless they are very careful with their privacy settings, they are also sharing them with the world. But it’s not just the photos that are shared—it’s the information that goes with them.

A million children in the US were victims of identity theft in 2017. Too many grandparents post photos on social media with information that exposes their children and grandchildren to identity theft and hackers. ​

Personally identifiable information should be treated like gold, and yet every day I see public posts announcing the birth of a baby with full name and birth date mentioned. Many of these posts make it easy to figure out birthplace and mother’s maiden name, too.

That proud and unsuspecting grandparent has just handed a potential identity thief four of the most useful pieces of information they could want. Even with your privacy settings set as securely as possible, nothing that is posted on the internet is truly secure.

According to a UC Davis study, the vast majority of new moms report having trouble breastfeeding - around 92%. Through my own experience, the number one thing that helped when I was struggling to breastfeed my own children was support - especially from my own mother.

Breastfeeding and infant nutrition recommendations have changed over the years, and the prevalence of breastfeeding has increased as well. This may make it difficult for grandparents to know the best way to support their breastfed grandchild and his or her parents, especially if they aren’t familiar with breastfeeding.

To a new mom, just knowing she has someone in her corner cheering her on can make a bad day a little bit easier. Even if the new mom isn’t struggling with something specific, the early days of breastfeeding can be exhausting! Kind words go a long way.

How Can Grandparents Help?

First of all, be gentle - new moms have tons of hormones and emotions that are all over the place. Even if she’s doing something different than you did, try to be kind in your recommendations.

Be encouraging - simply having someone say, “I’m here for you” can make a world of difference. Saying something like, “Just give a bottle” or “Formula works just fine!” might not be the best approach. There may come a time when a mother needs to be told it’s okay to stop breastfeeding, but I would avoid jumping to that at the first sign of trouble. The vast majority of breastfeeding problems have solutions with the right support. 

Encourage the new mom to take a breastfeeding class and attend with them if they need you to. Online breastfeeding classes are affordable, can be taken at home, and are a good resource for grandparents who want to be as helpful as possible. 
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Educate yourself - there’s so much information available on breastfeeding these days. My favorite website is KellyMom.com for up-to-date information on pretty much every topic related to breastfeeding. I also have many useful articles on my websites, The Breastfeeding Mama and Clarks Condensed.  Breastfeeding Essentials is one of our mini classes that might be especially helpful for a grandparent.

Breastfeeding Experts
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Offer to find help - if you see a mother struggling, reaching out for help might be difficult for her. Being sleep deprived and overwhelmed, she might not even know where to start. Thankfully, there are a lot of lactation specialists available these days, so when you find you can’t offer the support you want, you can help direct a new mom in the right direction. It can be a little overwhelming to know exactly what each kind of lactation specialists does, so here is an overview of the three main categories:

When each of my first two grandchildren was born, I went to help my son and his wife for the first week or so. I did all the things my mother had done for me: keeping up with the laundry, fixing meals and filling the freezer, sweeping floors and doing dishes. My third grandchild, however, arrived just days before the nation shut down because of Covid-19—and all the help I wanted to give was impossible.
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Luckily, I had visited the month before and the freezer was full for the first couple of weeks after the baby arrived. But as time has worn on, I’ve looked for ways to help without actually being there. If you can’t be where help is needed, there are a variety of services that can fill in for you. Read on for some services you can offer to arrange if your grandbaby’s parents are open to them.