How Was School Today? Fine……

March 3, 2010

As of yesterday, the book Rev. Shannon A. White and her daughter wrote together How Was School Today? Fine… is now available! I blogged earlier about Shannon and her story on life balance and extraordinary gifts on the WomensConference.org site.

Here is the press release:

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(Free-Press-Release.com) March 2, 2010 — Every parent dreams of interesting and productive conversations about school with their children. But what happens when it just doesn’t happen? That’s when Shannon White stepped in… and “How Was School Today? Fine.” became a reality. White, an ordained Pastor, speaker, TV news correspondent, and more importantly a mother, co-authored “How Was School Today? Fine.” with her tween daughter Peyton. Frustrated with hearing only “fine” to her repeated inquiries of Peyton’s school day, White asked Peyton what she was doing wrong. According to White, her quest to delve into more than just “fine” as a response prompted the birth of her book and the start of a mission to find a common ground of communication.

Covering a wide range of topics from international adoption, divorce, single parenting, puberty, religions, and bullying to Internet issues White says “Nothing is more challenging or rewarding than to support the healthy growth of a child in this world.”

Different than many parenting books, White encourages Peyton to give her perspective as well on these difficult and challenging issues. Together they share open communication…and teach their readers just how they did it.

Patty O. says “I think most people do not put much thought into parenting; they tend to imitate their parents. This is a perfect book for young parents; I will give it as a baby shower gift going forward.”

Nancy G. states “This is a uniquely sensitive and practical guide for better problem solving and improved communications with your children and teens, written by an especially insightful mom and her articulate middle-school daughter.”

“How Was School Today? Fine.” is available on Amazon.com and on Shannon and Peyton White’s website (www.HowWasSchoolTodayFine.com). Connect on the How Was School Today? Fine. Facebook fan page

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I also had the privilege to preview How Was School Today? Fine. A user-friendly discussion guide for parents and their elementary-aged children and it is an excellent resource for parents – and grandparents! – to learn to connect better with today’s kids AND for the kids to get some insight about their parents and grandparents, too! Shannon and Peyton’s style for the book is very engaging: stories and predicaments, mom’s view, daughter’s view, and some back-and-forth dialogue. This all gets wrapped up with a few questions for reflection for either adults or both adults and children.

The section on connecting with family discusses family meetings, age-appropriateness, sibling relationships, struggling with controlling behavior, fighting fairly, working through mistakes and morning-time responsibilities to get everyone ready to leave the house – along with many more such topics. The school and learning section has great examples for learning time management skills, making a difference to the people around you, peer pressure and bullying plus more. Then there’s the discussions on money and material things, bodies and bodily functions, community interaction, outside forces, and internet forces. My favorite part was the last section on building character – Shannon and Peyton call it “The Big Stuff” with topics like feelings, distress, gratitude, lying, loss, spirituality, prayer, meditation, sacred spaces and dreams.

Even though it is targeted as a discussion guide for parents with their elementary school-aged children, it is also extremely useful for any grandparents wanting to better their relationship or to open communication with their grandchildren.

It is a super resource! Very well done, Shannon and Peyton!

Check out https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com for other thoughts and activities to do with and for kids 🙂


Abby at Almost 2 Months Old

March 2, 2010

I have a few good photos of Abby as she approaches her 8th week, okay – two month – birthday. Here is one to start and I’ll post a few more later…..

Check out other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too!


San Diego Polar Bear Plunge Set to Reopen

March 1, 2010

The new Polar Bear Plunge is due to reopen with new features on March 26, 2010, at the San Diego Zoo! Until it opens, you can learn a little about polar bears right at this San Diego Zoo link. I have other links at my 11/11/09 blog here – just in case you missed it! 😉

The San Diego Zoo is very excited to have the exhibit with new activities for people to explore a day in the life of a polar bear.

Check out other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too!


Grandmother Pages of Type-A Mom Site

February 25, 2010

I found another interesting website for moms and grandmas. It is the Type-A Mom website and it has oodles and oodles of info broken into several different stages and categories. Here is the Grandmother page. Have fun!

Check out my other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂


Downhill Tubing in Reno/Tahoe Area

February 24, 2010

With all the snow we got in the last several days, this article by Maggie O’Neil of the Reno Gazette-Journal is quite timely! Check out For tubing adventures, it’s all downhill for reviews of the local resorts: Boreal Mountain Resort, Donner Ski Ranch, Granlibakken Ski and Snowboard, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort, Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort, Soda Springs Mountain Resort, Squaw Valley USA, and Tahoe Donner. There are other links here at NewToReno.com Winter Sports.

Check out the Reno-Tahoe website on your own – here’s the tubing page. For organized trips check out Sierra Adventures.
Personally, I liked the kids activities at Soda Springs the best – especially the tubing carousels at Planet Snow Kids.

For more ideas and activities, check out my other blogs at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂


What Do You Remember About Your Grandparents?

February 20, 2010

There are so many little triggers that take me back to childhood memories with Grandma and Grandpa! Some are smells. Some are sights. Some are songs. I have some of them captured on my Shared Memories page. Grandparents.com also has their article What Grandkids Remember that I shared a while back on starting new family traditions.

Foundations from the Past by Jean Warren has more great ideas as well to teach the children about their past and their family history. Check it out!

For other ideas and activities, check out my other blogposts at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂


Dr Karp’s 5 S’s of Calming a Colicky Baby

February 18, 2010

Today’s Long Beach Press-Telegram had an article by Dr. Harvey Karp about calming a baby. Since Abby has been colicky, I read with great interest what suggestions he had. The suggestion I wanted to pass on to my daughter was to try his 5 S’s he called the “calming reflex.” It is this: “It’s a virtual off switch for crying babies and on switchfor sleep that can calm even colicky babies in minutes or less,” Karp said. “The key is to imitate the womb environment with the five S’s: swaddling, side or stomach position, the “shhhhh” sound, swinging and sucking.” Let’s try that on Abby!

Here is Dr. Karp’s website http://www.happiestbaby.com and two of his popular books:

The Happiest Baby on the Block: The New Way to Calm Crying and Help Your Newborn Baby Sleep Longer

The Happiest Toddler on the Block: How to Eliminate Tantrums and Raise a Patient, Respectful, and Cooperative One- to Four-Year-Old: Revised Edition

Hope this helps!

Check out my other blogs for ideas and activities on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂


Birthday Party Ideas

February 16, 2010

Austin will be 4 next week! Wow! I still can remember holding him when he was one day old! Mommy is working on party possibilities. It can be daunting but I found a few interesting sites with ideas:

http://familyfun.go.com/parties/

http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/party-preschool-birthday-parties.htm

http://party.kaboose.com/birthday/ideas/toddler-birthday-party.html

http://fun.familyeducation.com/birthdays/parties/64165.html

Hopefully, after all the up-front work is done, there will be time to relax and enjoy the fun!

For other ideas and activities, check out my other blogposts at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com/ 🙂


Book Contests

February 15, 2010

This last weekend I entered Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! into 2 more contests. That makes it 4 different ones. Now we’ll see if we get lucky and maybe win some awards! That would be so nice!

I am now working on the next book! Yea!

Check out https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com for other interesting bits and ideas for sharing life with the children in your life! 🙂


NWF Wildlife Watch

February 11, 2010

Become a Wildlife Watch treasure hunter!

National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Watch is a national, nature-watching program created for people of all ages. The National Wildlife Federation can use your help to track the health and behavior of wildlife and plant species nationwide. You can also learn interesting tidbits on the Wildlife Watch website – wildlife news and facts, new ideas for attracting wildlife to your backyard and community. Check it out now on www.nwf.org/wildlifewatch and see what all is available to do!

Once you are finished with exploring your own back yard, you can get more ideas from NatureFind. It is an online destination database you can use to easily find a perfect spot for watching nature close to home. It also helps you discover what parks and trails are near you.

All you do is enter your zip code and check what activities you are interested in at http://www.nwf.org/naturefind to learn what is available around you!

Check out https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com for more interesting things and ideas! 🙂