Every December for the past three years I’ve begun work on a special gift for our grandchildren… a calendar for each one that gives the special gift of time and memories each month.
The first year was called Grand Times, the next year was Grand Memories, this year was Grand Experiences. I haven’t come up with the title for 2020 yet, but I know it will be Grand!
So for each of the four grandchildren, I choose a themed calendar about something they’re into – sports, animals, art, etc. Then, on each month’s page, I plan time with them to do something fun together. Sometimes it is simple – going to get ice cream or a visit to the park. We also do service projects for a couple of months’ activities – picking up trash at a safe location, using gloves and hand cleaning gel (lessons on littering and safety), taking pet food to the humane society shelters (lesson on compassion), caroling around the neighborhood (lesson on joy), choosing some basic hygiene supplies at the store and then taking them to a shelter that provides for needy families (lesson on love).
There is always something special on their respective birthday months – lunch out together and a special shopping trip with Grammy and GrandDoug. In the summer we’ve done Cousin Camp, getting all four of them together for a long weekend at our house, complete with a camp song, cookouts, water play, hikes, nature walks, and “moon walks,” going out after dark, watching the moon rise over the water at Lake Arlington, feeding the ducks.
Once or twice a year, we’ll do something more elaborate – visiting the Dallas Arboretum, the Japanese and Butterfly Gardens, seeing a special exhibit at a museum, or going to the beautiful Christmas displays around the metroplex.
We’ve had cooking lessons, sewing lessons, gardening lessons – time to share family stories and skills. Their parents (my sweet kids and their wonderful spouses) have loved this Christmas gift, and Doug and I have so enjoyed this special time with our grands. They seem to truly look forward to each month’s experiences; I know the memories we are making together are priceless.