GRAND Magazine - January 2009 - (Page 12)

grand central Grand lifesaver Grand roundtable: “Not our grandmothers’ recession?” “If we were to pack up our belongings and take off for a better life elsewhere—where?— what would we take?” asked one 50-something grand. “Instead of the Joads’ ‘Grapes of Wrath’ pots and pans hanging from an old truck with a mattress on top, we’d have sea kayaks and pasta machines dangling from the back of an SUV. And I’m no Granny Joad. I’d have my laptop and be searching for Wi-Fi all the way to the land of milk and honey.” “My grandmother annoyed me, I thought she was so cheap. She saved bacon grease and made sandwiches from it. She formed a huge ball of used rubber bands. She never threw out coupons, like those Betty Crocker ones for flatware, even when they had expired. The other day, I deep-fried some apple fritters, and when I started to dump the cooking oil, I suddenly thought, ‘That’s over a dollar’s worth, and it’s still good. What am I doing?’” (continued on pg. 14) Blogger Sally Wendkos Olds, writing in the November/December 2008 issue of GRAND, raised the concern that children need to be trained in emergency phone procedures, locations of critical medications, and other immediate emergency skills that may be necessary when living with or visiting grandparents. Before that issue even hit the ’net, The Age, a Melbourne, Australia, newspaper, underscored the point: “Primary school student Isabelle Grigoriants was fast asleep when she was woken by her grandmother’s irregular breathing…and she could not rouse her. “Remembering her school training, the cool-headed Isabelle called triple-O [911] for help. “‘I was thinking “Oh, my God, what should I do, should I call triple-O or call mum?”’ Isabelle said after receiving an Ambulance Victoria community hero award at Parliament House. “After telling emergency services the address and giving them some local directions—‘I told them on the left is Safeway and on the right is Coles,’ Isabelle said—she helped paramedics by translating for her Russian-speaking grandmother.” ONe haviNG fuN ThinkFun develops games to offer, in the company’s words, “healthy brain play, solving challenges, having fun.” Many ThinkFun games are single player—wonderful for grandkids who want to play games but don’t have another sibling or pal around to play with. Our favorites: Chocolate Fix ( players organize a “box of chocolates” based on their shape and color—milk chocolate, dark chocolate or pink chocolate—from clues on challenge cards that range from beginner to expert; ages 8+); Clever Castle (players place the princesses, dragons and knights in their correct positions by their color—red, blue or yellow—from the given clues varying from easy to super hard; ages 5-7); and Hoppers Jr. (players strategize on how to jump all the green frogs and leave only the red frog on the board based on certain clues ranging from easy to super hard; ages 5-7). To order: www.thinkfun.com. Lilliana, FL Sara, IL Zane, KY Jason, RI Kaitlyn, SC Travis, VT 12 GRAND JANUARY 2009 http://www.thinkfun.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of GRAND Magazine - January 2009

GRAND�Magazine - January 2009 Grand View Contents Isn't it Grand? Grand Central Tips on Teens Grand Gestures Toddler Town Help! My Grandson's Being Raised Vegan! Cover Story: Casualties Leader of the Pack Reunions Together Time Resources Grand Finale

GRAND Magazine - January 2009

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