Musing elsewhere: 9 Personal Skills to Encourage in Grandchildren

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compassion: children with ladybug 

Want to enhance your grandchildren's lives in ways that last a lifetime? Well put away your wallet and encourage kids to develop personal skills rather than accumulate playthings.

Grandparents are uniquely qualified in three specific ways to best encourage skills that make a world of difference when it comes to a child's future success:

  • boomeon bloggerWe have unconditional love for our grandchildren.
  • We support and supplement the values instilled by our grandchildren's parents.
  • We often have fewer work demands and outside obligations than the parents, hence more relaxed, one-on-one time with the grandkids.

Use your time, talents, and unique experiences to help instill important personal skills in your grandchildren by encouraging them to be:

Compassionate. Visit zoos—from open-range to petting—and animal shelters to discuss humane practices in caring for animals. Compassion for humans can be...

Continue reading 9 Personal Skills to Encourage in Grandchildren on Boomeon.com...

11 men I'd love to hug other than my husband

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As many of you know, about a year and a half ago I was called out of the audience at a national conference by none other than movie star Andy Garcia. He invited me to the front of the stage, in front of hundreds of conference attendees, so he could simply give me a hug. (If you missed that story—or just want to giggle about it again—you can read "On Andy Garcia and me" here.)

Now, when I met (and hugged) Mr. Garcia, I was shocked, surprised, delighted! I never, ever expected such a thing might come of my writing in a movie review of Garcia's latest film that I'd love to give the guy a hug. So if that is all it takes to get a hug from a man I admire—simply putting it down in writing for all the Internet to see—here are eleven other men I'd love to hug...and why:

men to hug

David Sedaris. He doesn't seem the hugging type, so Mr. Sedaris would likely...

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