My mother, a Holocaust survivor and daughter of a Kabbalist rabbi from a small town in pre World War II Poland, had a unique outlook on life. It is not unusual that looking back on my childhood and younger adulthood that I realize now her wisdom was rooted in Kabbalah. I just did not know then. I wrote a previous New Year’s blog about my mother and feelings of gratitude. Rereading it reminded me of the wonderful generational life lessons she instilled in me every day that she

Each year at the holiday season I try to share gift ideas. This year was difficult as usual for grandparents as we really don’t want anyone to spend money on us. For several years, I’ve suggested gifts of time in various ways and for various reasons. See, for example: Holiday Gifts For Grandparents That Are Priceless, Interesting, and Unusual . This year I have intentionally waited for the day before Christmas to post this blog. Hopefully, your family is together sometime dur

When I was researching for board games for 2025, I decided that Wirecutter was the best resource. Then I accidentally came across the fact that Wirecutter for 2025 has listed gifting ideas by age starting at baby and going to adult. Here is the index to all of the alternatives on Wirecutter. I hope this helps finish your last minute Christmas and Hanukkah and holiday shopping. From WIRECUTTER: “The best gifts for kids help them experience the world in new, exciting ways—and g

If you ask me what board games I have in my house to play with grandchildren, you will know that it immediately dates me. However, I do believe that we grandparents still need to play the following with our grandchildren, the subject of previous blog posts, and also explore the new games for children and adults now available for the holidays 2025.   Monopoly     We missed National Monopoly Day November 19, but always have a set handy. See, previous blog post, National Monopol

I was introduced to Instagram by my grandchildren, and I subsequently learned that there are algorithms that cause you to view certain types of items again and again. Considering my youngest grandchild is seven years old, I was surprised by the amount of baby items that appear on my Instagram.  I guess it was because I started being amazed at the amount of great and unique baby and toddler items that I never knew existed. So, I started to keep track of those on Instagram and

I have holiday gift lists for every holiday in my blog for previous years.  If I say so myself, I think they are clever and great so please peruse.   This year, I have found a bonanza that I am sharing, REAL SIMPLE’S “BEST GIFTS OF 2025, in one link :    The categories include:   GIFTS FOR HER GIFTS FOR HIM GIFT IDEAS BY INTEREST   AND MOST IMPORTANT!   HOLIDAY & CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS   I curated it myself by checking the section on gifts for grandmas and it is fabulous! You w

French Chocolate Pie has been a gift from a dear friend, Patti,  every Thanksgiving.  She has known for too many years to mention that this was perfect for this chocoholic.  Now she has finally given me permission to share her recipe. It is a make a day ahead pie, which needs to be refrigerated overnight, but joyfully is a literally just a chill pie. To make it the easiest, you can buy a ready made Oreo pie crust if you want all chocolate, my favorite.  Or use a graham crust

This Boomer Grandma learned years ago that we raised our children, the parents of our grandchildren, in the dark ages, and we do not know...

A new baby in the family is a joy. This Grandma gets ready for the holidays early for newborn and baby gifts, and Chanukah starts...

Because it mentioned our family’s beloved board game, Catan, in the title, I immediately went to an article in the New York Times, April...

As this Grandma said in Part I, a dear long friend, who is becoming a grandma for the first time, asked me to give her my must reads for...

It is always hard to get grandparents holiday gifts. All we grandparents want is time with grandchildren. In that vein, now that COVID...

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This Grandma collects articles for research for blogs. When collecting for Father’s Day, I found I had collected forty-one articles from...

This Grandma immediately goes to one of three sources for personalized gifts, especially new baby gifts, Chad and Jake, Pottery Barn...

2022 is a year where memories are especially important. Covid has made us realize that time and time together is precious. We want the...

In 2014, I wrote a post, “What Our Grandchildren Want as Presents. Then I did not have college aged grandchildren or teenaged...

Since the birth of the oldest grandchild, this Grandma realized that celebration of holidays was going to be a challenge being a long...

We grandparents, (AV) after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, are planning multiple trips to visit grandchildren. We Florida grandparents...

Mother’s Day 2021 is Sunday, May 9. The 2021 Best Mother’s Day gift is also the most important. If you add up the days, minutes or hours...