The start of the school year is already looming for our grandchildren so Granny Look decided to tackle the issue of reading with all Granny Look users. It is possible that many of us have tried to read to our grandchild before and we want to know what have been your experiences.

We value highly what readers of our website have to say about our articles and for this reason we want you to post any experiences you have had in this area or any tips which you think may help us in this sometimes difficult task.

Read Granny Look's advice in our latest feature on reading by clicking here.

Granny Look has been alarmed by the recent news of the earthquake in Los Angeles. It prompted her to post an article on how you can prepare for a quake in the features section which you can see at the link at the bottom of this blog post.

We are also keen on hearing any advice any readers have to offer to anyone out there who could be requiring information on how to deal with an earthquake in your region.

Please register and use this blog! Thank you!

Our article in the safety category of our features section.

Granny Look is always happy to hear that children and their parents are more and more on the lookout for surrogate grandparents who can care for them and spoil them!

Grandparents are a group of people full of energy and desire to do the best for their grandchildren. Sometimes one reason for this surrogate 'grandparenting' is the fact that we live far from our own children.... or because our own children have no kids of their own.

Many times we are adopted as surrogate grandparents through the relationships that we develop with younger parents in the area, or even driven by our own desire to have a more influential and active role within our community.

Sometimes, there are children in the area whose parents have divorced and this may mean we can bridge the gap formed by the lack of short or long-term responsible parenthood. This could mean just looking after these kids for a few days a week or even taking full-time custody of the children after a while. As surrogate grandparents we take on a greater responsibility and give many children the listening ear and attention they need to grow and develop their personality.

Granny Look believes that it is useful to push for this role within your community, because allowing for cultural sensitivities, we really have a lot to offer. Try to help other grandparents to free themselves for this role, a great idea from Granny Look being to suggest a grandparents' day at your local school.

The purpose of such an event is that even the youngest members of our society can understand and respect the value of grandparents and what they have to offer.

This could create a network of grandparents ready at any moment to do some babysitting or even help around the house on a purely voluntary basis. Such a move will really raise the profile of grandparents in the community and really help us become surrogate grandparents for a whole new group of young people.

Check these links forsurrogate grandparenting groups in US and in UK

We would also like to know if any of you are surrogate parents or have any experience with this area. Please let us know how you are doing in this role and how you think we can provide more information on the subject! Is the concept of surrogate grandparents too far-fetched or a realistic possibility in our changing society?

Granny Look is concerned how our kids are coping with the internet barrage thrown at us by all sectors of the new media. From pornography to undesirable persons we have highlighted some of the problems they could face in one of our features here

With kids now spending more and more time on the internet and parents more and more lost, there are a few very important questions we have to ask. What, if anything, can we do? As computer literate grandparents are there any tangible measures we can take? What advice can we give? How can we help our grandchildren make the right decisions on the net?

If you ever thought grandparents were not prepared for the task of looking after grandchildren latest figures show you couldn't be further from the truth.

An increasing trend in the USA at least, as Granny Look found out, was for grandparents to adopt their own grandchildren after their son or daughter came to be in a position where they could no longer look after them.

Granny Look read a regional newspaper from Oshkosh, USA, that ran a feature on the subject citing two examples in the local community where such a phenomenon had taken place. It referred to the case of Juliana, whose mother left her with her grandparents a month after giving birth for what was going to be a weekend. This was eventually prolonged into four years of full-time parenthood for Juliana's grandparents, Tim and Sharon Six, who have now adjusted their small home for their new adoptive child.

Then there is the case of Dawn and Norman Arbogash of Neenah, whose daughter had a bad accident and was unable to take care of her own child, Jeffrey. The four-year-old newborn was taken care of by the parents of seven children and are now the permanent legal guardians their grandson. A poignant difference in their life, they say, is that while they had saved for retirement now they will have to wait a few years before they can do so.

Read the whole article at the link below and tell us what you think about what could be an interesting social development we are experiencing. Are we really moving to an age where grandparents share the load their children cannot carry? Doesn't this seem ironic as it used to be the other way around before? Have you heard of any similar circumstances yourself? At Granny Look we value your comments and with a now fully-operational blog I am sure have plenty to offer our growing community

Read the article in full here!

As we move towards a summer of travelling on-board planes across UK and the world, Granny Look is interested to hear your views on how to prevent your grandchildren from misbehaving during air travel.

Trawling the net she found articles on the issues and read about methods some parents were using to help children fall asleep. some ideas seemed to revolve around giving the child either an antihistamine preparation, or possibly a stronger sedative, both amounts adapted to the needs of the child. However, the reported problems with these medications is that they can backfire and make children hyperactive or give them nightmares. As grandparents are we prepared to take such a risk? Can we permit the use of strong drugs like these ones to 'tranquilise' our young company? And what if they backfire? Are we prepared for the possibly explosive consequences? Please comment on this post and tell us what you think or what your experiences have been as a parent or a grandparent...

Here is an interesting email Granny Look received recently

How old is Grandpa or Grandma??
Stay with this -- the answer is at the end!

One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events.
The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the computer age, and just things in general.
The Grandfather replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born before:
* television
* penicillin
* polio shots
* frozen foods
* Xerox
* contact lenses
* Frisbees and
* the pill

There were no:
* credit cards
* laser beams or
* ball-point pens

Man had not invented:
* pantyhose
* air conditioners
* dishwashers
* clothes dryers
* and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and
* man hadn't yet walked on the moon

Your Grandmother and I got married first, . . . and then lived together.

Every family had a father and a mother.

Until I was 25, I called every man older than me, "Sir".
And after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, "Sir."
We were before gay-rights, computer- dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment, and common sense.
We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege.
We thought fast food was what people ate during Lent.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.
Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not purchasing condominiums.
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings.
We listened to the Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President*s speeches on our radios.
If you saw ! anything with 'Made in Japan ' on it, it was junk.
The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam.
Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 &10-cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents.
Ice-cream cones, phone calls, rides on a streetcar, and a Pepsi were all a nickel.
And if you didn't want to splurge, you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, . . . but who could afford one?
Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day:
* "grass" was mowed
* "coke" was a cold drink
* "pot" was something your mother cooked in and
* "rock music" was your grandmother's lullaby.
* "Aids" were helpers in the Principal*s office,
* " chip" meant a piece of wood,
* "hardware" was found in a hardware store

And we were the last generation to actually believe that a lady needed a husband to have a baby. No wonder people call us "old and confused" and say there is a generation gap... and how old do you think I am?
You may think it would not be possible I was alive still... but in reality you are in for a shock!
Read on to see. It may be a bit alarming and you may find it strange how young I really am....

I would only be 59 years old.

Granny Look came across an interesting article that suggested that academics had found grandparents were becoming an even better listening ear than ever to their grandchildren.

The article, by Martin Beckford, Social Affairs Correspondent, noted that the increasing use of email by so-called silver surfers was also making this communication more fluid.

Martin Beckford's article in the Telegraph...

Tell us what you think below when you register and log in!