Search

 

 

Informative Articles

10 Holiday Sober Savers
Holidays are loaded with triggers. Memories, family situations, and extra demands for your time are all difficult to manage. While at the same time, living in recovery, especially when your newly sober , has its own assortment of challenges.. ...

Kids Party Etiquette for Parents
INVITATIONS The rule of thumb passed down by experienced Moms and Dads is to invite the same number of party guests as your child's age. Resist the temptation to invite every child in your child's classroom. Be discrete and avoid hurt...

Rainbow Gardens For Your Vegas wedding
Rainbow Gardens of Las Vegas offers an array of services, tips, and guidelines to help you get started in planning your special day. Choose a lovely las Vegas chapel where you and your beloved will exchange vows in a setting that will never be...

Train Your Dog To Be Your Frisbee Playing Buddy
On the surface playing Frisbee with your dog may seem like just a bit of fun, but this activity actually holds other benefits as well. 1. Certain breeds are accustomed to an active lifestyle, so, when they are forced to remain idle, they...

What Is Homeschooling And How Do I know If It's Right For My Family?
Do you know what these famous people have in common? Alexander Graham Bell George Patton Albert Einstein Benjamin Franklin Winston Churchill Agatha Christie George Bernard Shaw Will Rogers If you guessed that they...

 
Google
Valentine's Far From Home

"What shall we make grandma and grandpa for Valentine's Day?"

This is an oft-repeated question as February 14th draws near; and despite being another highly commercialized holiday, it is still a nice way for geographically separated families to touch base.

Although e-mail is invaluable, homemade cards from grandchildren - gluey, misspelt and smudged, delivered in crumpled envelopes with upsidedown stamps - are the wishes that will be caressed by gentle hands, hung on the fridge under hatted cow magnets, and proudly shown to passers-by.

My own daughter knows that her grandma is a jigsaw puzzle expert, so she glued a teddy bear picture to a red construction paper heart, with little messages of love written around the periphery. With great care, tongue tip protruding to steady her hand, she then cut the artwork into several large pieces. Proudly, dumping her homemade puzzle into an envelope, we went to the post office hand in hand.

We press flowers, collected on warm walks and


summer picnics, haphazardly collecting them in any book on hand. It's always a lovely treat when fragile petals float from a page we're reading, and sometimes we glue these decorations of nature to homemade Valentine's Day cards sharing colorful memories of spring.

Children grow up fast, and grandparents miss the little things - like a first lost tooth, a new smile. One fun way to send pictures is to decorate cards with sunshines and flowers, replacing round centers with cut-out faces of the grandkids. There's no better way to wish the folks Happy Valentine's Day than to have a garden of your children's faces beaming up at them.

About the Author

Stephanie Olsen, published writer, homeschooling mother of two and ESL teacher currently residing in Europe, is also owner of the expatriate site, Family Life Abroad http://www.familylifeabroad.com where you'll find humorous and informative articles by experienced expatriates on all aspects of living abroad, with lots of links and travel tips.