Sunday January 29, 2012
Jim Calhoun didn't get to be one of the winningest coaches in college basketball by lacking persistence. Ask him about the pin he wears in his lapel, and you'll get a demonstration of his dedication to a different cause, autism.
"Everybody asks me what the pin is for, and they get half an hour. If they don't like it they get an hour," the UConn Huskies coach told NBC Sports in 2007.
Calhoun, who has two autistic grandchildren, is involved with Autism Speaks. He has made public service announcements and next month will sponsor his first CardioRaiser fundraiser.
Grandparents play important roles in the lives of many children with autism, according to a study by the Interactive Autism Network. Dealing with the initial diagnosis is almost always difficult, but many grandparents go on to get involved at several levels, including activism and fundraising.
If you're not in Connecticut, you may not be able to raise funds and your heart rate along with the coach, but it is easy to find a fundraising walk near you. It's also easy to sport a lapel pin, like Calhoun. But get ready for the questions.
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Friday January 27, 2012
When my husband and I decided to name our first daughter Leslie, my father-in-law didn't approve. He never said anything to us, but another family member later reported that he had said that Leslie "sounded like a boy" and that he believed that he would call her something else. My father-in-law had nicknames for all the grandchildren, so we didn't think much about it when he began to call Leslie by a nickname. We considered his nicknaming one of his endearing habits.
Names that are not gender-specific are just one of the objections that grandparents may have to their grandchildren's names. They may also dislike names that are too common, too unusual, spelled in an unusual way or hard to pronounce. Guess what. None of these objections gives grandparents the slightest right to challenge the decision of the parents. It's often hard enough for the parents to agree on a name without having to consider the wishes of other family members.
I was lucky. I liked all of the names selected for my grandchildren. I don't know how I would have felt if I had learned that a grandchild would bear the same name as someone who treated me badly in the past. That's the situation faced by one grandparent-to-be. Read about her dilemma, or share your own story about disliking a grandchild's name.
More About Baby Names:
Thursday January 26, 2012
If there's one thing that grandparents know, it's that you don't have to re-invent the wheel. Great ideas are out there for the borrowing. When my grandchildren and I go to children's museums, we enjoy installations that cost many thousands of dollars, but we also get ideas for activities that cost little or nothing. The best part is that one good idea often leads to another. Learn about six activities adapted from things we have done at children's museums. I bet these ideas will lead you and your grandchildren to more ways to have inexpensive fun.
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More Thrifty Thursday From the Parenting/Family Channel
Wednesday January 25, 2012
When the weather outside is frightful, the grandchildren still need exercise. An indoor playground is one option. Another is to use the indoor space that you have. Many classic games, like hide-and-seek, hopscotch, and Red Light, Green Light can be adapted for indoor play. Catherine Holecko, Guide to Family Fitness, has some innovative (and inexpensive) ideas like balloon volleyball, ribbon limbo and tape balance beam.
How do you keep the kiddos moving when they can't go outdoors?
Photo © S. Adcox
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