The Value of Grandparents

I’ve heard the standard cute sayings about grandparents and have had friends tell me how wonderful it is to become a grandparent but never did I fully understand the joy and wonder that comes with this role until experiencing it myself. As a young mother I think I was so busy handling the routines of life, feeling exhausted and yet wanting it all to be so perfect that I missed a lot of those special moments that I am capturing right now as a grandma. To hold that new life and marvel that only yesterday that baby’s parent was your baby is almost beyond comprehension. People ask what name my granddaughter will call me. I have given it some thought but when it comes right down to it, she may call me whatever she chooses. I just want her to call me. I want to be a grandma who will be there ready to listen and ready to share in the fun. Children learn so much from the connections they make with adults from various generations. The world we grew up in is so very different from the one our grandchildren will inherit yet the need for human companionship and relationships will always remain. So how can we foster those relationships with our grandchildren, nieces, nephews, any young child in our lives? Buying fancy gifts and spending lots of money are not necessary to develop relationships. Relationships begin by just being there and getting to know those things that interest each child. It also means sharing those things that we have a passion for with the children in our lives. Invite children to help you bake, garden, walk with you, engage in a sport or hobby, whatever it is you enjoy doing. Children will learn more from you than the activity you are engaged in. Children need role models who can show them how to handle the challenges and disappointments in life as well as life’s joys. A person who will listen without judging, offer wisdom and advice without preaching, who is willing to share their own mistakes and who is there to acknowledge a child will help to develop character and self esteem along with some pretty terrific memories. Parents need the support of their elders too. Parenting is a difficult job. Parents today are often juggling jobs, children and family. These can be daunting and exhausting tasks for anyone. An unfortunate consequence of our mobile society is the distance that often separates extended families. There are many ways we can maintain communication in this technological world yet nothing is more valuable than human contact. If your own grandchildren are far away, try and find a young family who is missing their grandparents. Offer to spend time with their children while providing that missing support for both of you.

How the Cookie Crumbles

These days with the economy the way it is, and holidays around the corner, who doesn’t want to save time and money? Here are some tips to make holiday task more manageable. First break down the big holiday shopping category into smaller groupings such as gifts, parties, food and baking. Set up a budget for each area. This will help you stay within your means. For our purpose let’s just focus on one category, my favorite, baking. The following are some tried and true, time and money saving tips to make the holiday baking season a little less stressful and to give you extra time for other important things. It all starts with planning, sound familiar? Planning is the number one helper in saving time and money. Here are my top ten most helpful steps to get you started on the right track. These tips will help you save time; money; and sanity during any baking venture. 1. Make a list of all the cookies you want to make. Keeping in mind shape, flavor, and texture so you will have a nice assortment of cookies when finished. If you ship cookies you also want to think sturdiness. Most drop cookies will hold up well during the travel process. 2. Gather recipes and ingredients. Make a master shopping list from your recipes. Then look in your pantry or freezer for ingredients you may already have or staples you may be low on. Remember specialty ingredients, items like spices, flavorings, sprinkles, and mix-ins (nuts, choc chips, pieces of candy bars, or coconut). 3. Make a master baking shopping list. This will also allow you to spread out your expenses over several shopping trips. Start purchasing some ingredients ahead when you see them on sale. During the late summer and early fall purchase items such as chocolate chips, flour, and sugar. Knowing your prices helps with knowing how good a sale really is when you happen on one. 4. Be creative. Marked down Halloween candy makes great mix-ins or centers for cookies and brownies. Mix-ins and centers can be altered easily from the original recipe. 5. Oh No’s! What to do with cookies, that don’t turn out right. If you forgot an ingredients or used too much of another ingredient. Don’t trash the batch, use them for something else. Dry them out in a 250˚ F oven and grind them in a food processor many basic cookies such as chocolate chip ,peanut butter and most bar cookies can have as much as 1/3 of the total flour needed can be replaced with dried ground cookie crumbs. 6. No more sticky mess! When measuring shortening or sticky items in measuring cups, line the cup with a piece of plastic wrap first. This will prevent the need to wash the cup for the next ingredient. 7. No Time to bake! If you don’t have time to bake now, mix up batches of dough. Most drop cookie dough made with butter and flour as main ingredients can be frozen now and baked later. If you form the dough into a log and roll it in parchment or wax paper. Then cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Just slice and bake when you have time. You will get best results if dough is still partly frozen while slicing. 8. Parchment paper is your best friend! I know it can be pricey but the time it will save you on clean up is worth the money. In case you didn’t know, parchment paper can be reused until it turns light tan. 9. Make ahead! Freezing baked cookies is another saving grace. About 95% of all cookie varieties can be frozen for up to 3 months without losing flavor. Varieties that don’t freeze well are meringue based, fried, lace and any cookie with hard candy. If you are not sure if a variety you bake freezes well test a sample. Put a few in a zipper seal freezer bag and place them in freezer for overnight. You will know 15 minutes after taking cookies out of the freezer if they are suitable for freezing. Fragile cookies such as cut- outs should be placed in sturdy container s before freezing. Most other cookies can be stored on edge packed tightly together in zipper seal bags. To lock in moisture and freshness, bag cookies as soon as they cool completely. Don’t wait long, cookies start drying out as soon as they come out of the oven. 10. Are we done yet! When I finish my holiday baking for the year, I package extra ingredients in airtight bags or container and freeze them to start the next year. Items that work well for this are choc chips, nuts, coconut, even fruit filling. Baking with family or friends is a great way to spend time together and have fun, even little hands can help. If all the above seems like too much, but you still want homemade baked cookies. Join or start a cookie swap with family and friends. Remember, portion control so you don’t have regrets after the holiday season and stress about weight loss. I know I missed many great ideas so please share your tips for making holiday baking a little less stressful for someone else.

To Reward or Not to Reward?

Pretty soon the report cards will be coming home from school. Parents respond in a number of ways ranging from big rewards for terrific grades to loss of privileges for less than desirable grades. I have often overheard some of my children’s friends share stories about “what they got” for their report cards. My own children would inevitably ask, “Why don’t I get anything for my report card?” And I would have to explain in kid-terms why I did not care to indulge them for good grades. In trying to make the concept of “intrinsic rewards” sound child-friendly, I simply said that the feeling you have inside when you accomplish something is your reward. Children wrinkle their noses in confusion at this explanation, and parents often wonder if they did the right thing. If our job as parents is to prepare our children to be successful in the real world, are we doing them any favors by giving them prizes for doing their work? The reality is that this is not the way the world operates. Rather than giving children tangible rewards or buckets of praise, it is recommended that parents encourage their children with words such as “You can feel really good about getting a ‘B’ in such a tough course!”, or “You worked hard this semester!”. Even a low grade can be recognized as an accomplishment if the child studied and did her homework but still found taking tests difficult. Such feedback instills in a child a positive sense of self and a can-do attitude. They also learn to rely on themselves for rewards. That good feeling comes from inside, thus, it is intrinsic. If the response to good performance always comes from outside, then it is extrinsic. That can only happen as long as someone is around to take notice and dole out rewards. Intrinsic rewards are never too far away. They are also very inexpensive! Some parents like to set goals with their children for the next marking period. For example, parents can ask their child what she would like to improve upon for the next report card. If that goal is then met, parents can recognize the accomplishment with their child, preferably without giving a reward. If it is not achieved, the parent can ask the child what they think happened and what they think they can do to bring the grade up next time. I would love to hear some conversation about this topic! Parents, please weigh in and share your thoughts. Tell us what you do at report card time and what works in your homes!