November 06, 2017

Kudos to Kyra Sedgwick!

November 06, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Jim and I attended a film screening and post-screening discussion on Saturday as part of the Denver Film Festival. The importance of the subject compelled me to tell you about it today, pre-GRAND Social (my most visited feature), rather than as a future Saturday movie review.

STORY OF A GIRL is the directorial debut for Kyra Sedgwick, and a powerful film parents, grandparents, and anyone sympathetic to struggles today's girls face should see.

For the film — which aired on Lifetime in July — Sedgwick directs her husband, Kevin Bacon, and Ryann Shane, as well as her daughter, Sosie Bacon. (Her son contributed the score, making it a full family affair.) Shane shines as Deanna, a 16-year-old girl attempting to overcome the repercussions of a sex video featuring her that...

November 01, 2017

An open letter to new long-distance grandmas

November 01, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Dear heartbroken long-distance grandma,

First, let me say congratulations on your grandma status! Whether you just learned you'd soon have a grandchild, a newborn grand recently arrived, or one or more grandkiddos have long been part of your heart, you are a grandmother and that's worth celebrating... again and again.

Today, though, I offer my condolences that your grandmother status carries, or soon will, the long-distance modifier. I know how hard that is on you. I know because I am you — a long-distance grandma.

I've been a long-distance grandma a while, with hundreds of miles separating me from my sweet ones ever since the initial "You're going to be a grandma!" announcement nearly ten years ago. Considering the survival strategies I've learned the hard way...

October 30, 2017

A grand monster mash

October 30, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Hooray for Halloween! And for Halloween fun courtesy JibJab!

Do you make JibJab videos featuring your grandkiddos? I made a fun one for Halloween and hoped to embed it here for all to see. Alas, JibJab no longer allows users to download their videos for embedding (boo!), so here are a few screenshots of my creation.

I'd love for ya'll to see the silliness in full, though, so if you have a sec, click on over to my grand monster mash mixup for ghoulishly goofy Happy Halloween wishes from...

October 25, 2017

25 things grandmas supposedly say that I've never heard fellow grandmothers utter

October 25, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

My husband's niece delivered a beautiful — and big, 10-plus pounds! — baby boy last week. When I saw photos she'd shared of him on Instagram, I commented, "What a precious little love bug!"

To which I immediately thought to myself, "What a freakin' grandma thing to say."

I considered adding another comment cracking on my initial comment but figured what the heck, I am a grandma, and that's just the kind of thing grandmas say.

Which led me in my ever inquisitive way to soon after google "things grandmas say."

The results were sometimes hilarious, sometimes...

October 23, 2017

Halloween candy stats by state, plus GRAND Social No. 276 link party for grandparents

October 23, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

We're one week out from trick-or-treat time. Have you stocked up on candy yet?

I recently received an interesting graphic from CandyStore.com on the top treats by state. Scroll over the interactive map for a closer look at the sweet stats.

What's tops in your state? I was surprised to see that M&Ms weren't tops in Colorado, where apparently Milky Ways are king, considering how many pounds of the plain or peanut goodies my husband...

October 13, 2017

National Bullying Prevention Month: Resources for grandparents

October 13, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

In recognition of October being National Bullying Prevention Month, my fellow GRANDparent Network members Leslie and Kay at Grandparents Link interviewed a couple kids on bullying.

Take a look at their exclusive Frankly Kids: Bullying video (which they gave me permission to share):

October 06, 2017

On spidorpions and refrigerator art

October 06, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

My grandsons live in the desert, where creepy crawly things reside, too.

Most of those creepy crawly things — primarily scorpions and lizards but sometimes other icky things — though horrifying to me, are merely common sightings for Brayden, Camden, and Declan. Nothing to write home, I mean, write Gramma about.

The boys — and Megan — recently encountered a critter like none they'd encountered before. One they weren't even sure what it was. First Megan, then Brayden, then Camden described...

October 02, 2017

Hearts, comments, new blog briefs! Plus GRAND Social No. 273 link party

October 02, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

Hearts, comments, new blog briefs!

On Mondays, Grandma's Briefs gets the most visitors of the week. I credit the GRAND Social link party and the grand grandparent bloggers who participate by linking and reading. Because today is Monday, there are likely more than a few folks reading this who are seeing the new and improved Grandma's Briefs for the first time since I announced a face lift in the works.

When I did the big reveal of the completed makeover last Friday, I shared some of the new and functional features. Today I'd like to point out some of the new features that will be of particular interest to bloggers, as many of today's visitors are such.

September 20, 2017

Rapid recovery

September 20, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

late night phone call

Grandmothers and others know few things prompt panic in a parent's or grandparent's heart quite like a late-night phone call or text from a child. Even an adult child.

I received one such scary communication from my daughter Megan — mom to my grandsons — last Friday night. Granted, it was only 8:30 in the evening, 7:30 her time, but that's not a time my long-distance daughter and I typically talk or text. So my heart indeed flip-flopped a few times upon hearing her ringtone.

Camden hurt himself, she told me.

Long story short: The rambunctious kid had been rambunctioning about (my word) and demonstrating to big brother Brayden how awesome he was at holding his breath. Resulting in Camden — briefly — passing out. And landing, unconscious, on his head on the hard stone tile flooring found throughout much of their house. A tremendous goose egg on his head served as reward for the frightening feat.

Thankfully Megan's sister-in-law is a pediatrician, so...

September 08, 2017

Books, Brightly, and Grandparents of Children's Literature

September 08, 2017/ Lisa Carpenter

In celebration of Grandparents Day — which is this Sunday, Sept. 10 — I'd like to share with you a grand resource for grandparents that I just recently learned of.

Brightly is a resource for parents, grandparents, and other folks dedicated to raising lifelong readers. The award-winning website, a partnership with Penguin Random House, launched in 2014 and features, as the Brightly site states, "book recommendations from all publishers for every age and stage, reading tips and insights, seasonal inspirations, author essays, contests, gift guides, and more."

Brightly has some pretty great content specifically for grandparents, including the following piece, which I've received permission to share with you in part. Enjoy! And be sure to click for the complete article as well as others, all celebrating grandparents. For Grandparents Day and every day!

AREN'T THEY GRAND? OUR FAVORITE GRANDPARENTS FROM CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
By Tom Burns

Grandparents aren’t just solid sources of extra dollars, hearty hugs, and embarrassing...