PC4DC Community Forum » Grandparenting

Grandparents/Children Activities

tyko — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:27:25 +0000

My Pop, Phil Niss, and I would spend hours on Beach 20 in Rockaway, New York. We flew kites, while talking about baseball, our ancestors, heritage, dreams, and fears. He implored me to be true to myself, and to embrace change. It was he who kept reminding me to never, ever give up… while gazing at skies like this:

Kite Flying Hints

Kite Trivia – In 1749, two Scottish scientists, Alexander Wilson and Thomas Melville, fastened thermometers to kites in order to record temperature of the air at high altitudes. This was the first recorded attempt to obtain scientific data using kites.

Launching

In good winds, you should be able to launch your kite from your hand. Standing with your back to the wind, hold your kite to catch the wind. Let line out smoothly, as far as the wind lifts your kite.

In light wind or gusty winds, a high-start launch can help to get your kite up to the steadier winds above. Have someone hold your kite at least 100 feet downward from you with the string stretched tight. When your assistant releases the kite, reel in line as needed to make it climb. In very light winds, leave your reel on the ground and pull in the line hand-over-hand.

Running is the hardest way to launch a kite and the uncontrolled tugging on the line can make the kite dive and crash. Let the wind and your reel do the work for you.

How much wind do you need?

Generally, less than you think. Use the Kite Wind-Range Chart to judge the wind before launching. If the trees are swaying and it is hard to walk, you will have a battle on our hands even if your kite does fly. Gentle breezes are much more fun.

Adjusting for the wind

Most kites can be adjusted to fly in lighter or stronger winds. If your kite loops and dives erratically while you are pulling hard on the line, the wind is too strong. If it wobbles and fails to climb, the wind is too light. If adjusting does not help, the wind is beyond your kite’s wind-range, so try another kite or another day.

Tails

Adding or lengthening a tail can help a kite in strong winds and shortening or removing a tail can aid in light winds.

Big Kite Satety

Big kites offer increased performance and excitement but the hazards increase as well. Keep a few common sense precautions in mind whenever flying big kites:

Be particularly careful to keep your flying area clear of other people.
Fly big kites with a friend. If the wind changes, you may need help to get your kite down.
Always wear gloves

If you are unsure of your ability to control a kite in a strong wind, tie the line down before launching. Big airfoils, in particular, can overpower any kite flier in a heavy wind.

What regulations govern kites?

The FAA has one regulation governing kites under 5 lbs. in weight: “No person may operate a kite in a manner that creates hazard to persons, property, or other aircraft.”

Grandparents and Childcare in Korea

tyko — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 07:55:17 +0000

From donga.com

Grandparents and Childcare

MARCH 23, 2010 02:58

Probably because I’ve grown older, I agree more with a mother-in-law than a daughter-in-law when it comes to jokes about their relationship. One joke is the one about “the three mistaken women” – a woman who mistakenly considers her daughter-in-law her daughter; a woman who mistakenly thinks of her son-in-law as her son, and a woman who mistakenly thinks of her husband as her son. Another joke is not all about laughter: a mother-in-law in the affluent Gangnam area of Seoul who carries her grandson or granddaughter on her back, bragging that her daughter-in-law is a doctor or has a Ph.D.

The conflict between double-income couples who want their parents to perform childcare and older couples who shun caring for their grandchildren is more serious than thought. Grandmothers share information on how to make their daughters or daughters-in-law take care of their own children: chewing a spoonful of rice before giving it to their grandchildren, washing their grandchildren’s hair with laundry soap, or teaching the Korean alphabet using a dialect. Certain elderly couples have left Seoul for the provinces by the time their children get married and settle down in the capital. Newlyweds want to live near their parents to get their help.

Taking care of children is exhausting and time consuming. One saying goes that working in a field is preferable to taking care of children. A survey also shows that people who raise grandchildren grow old faster than those who do not. Grandmothers who bring up grandchildren are more likely to have spine problems because they have to carry them or take them on their backs. Since many senior citizens seek quality of life today, they do not welcome caring for their grandchildren, which speeds up aging. One elderly woman said, “Grandsons are really cute when they come, but cuter when they leave.” This means they welcome their grandchildren when they stay for a short time but would rather not take care of them.

Many grandfathers actively participate in a “pre-grandparent class” run by Guro Community Health Center in southwestern Seoul. When a “pre-grandmother class” opened last year, many wanted the same class for grandfathers, so the center decided to expand the scope of its students. Since grandmothers cannot care for their grandchildren alone, grandfathers want to help their wives. Senior citizens who carry baby dolls look awkward but are serious. They learn how to change diapers, prepare baby formula, and sterilize baby bottles. This is a new trend in a rapidly aging society with low birthrate that has no option other than having grandparents help in childcare.

Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee (shchung@donga.com)

Grandparents Risk Hardship By Taking On Childcare

tyko — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:32:55 +0000

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 2 March 2010 17.08 GMT

Many grandparents risk hardship through loss of pay to help their family with childcare. Photograph: Heinrich van den Berg/Getty Images/Gallo Images

Grandparents in some of the UK’s most vulnerable families are risking hardship by taking time out of work to provide free childcare, a report claimed today.

Research commissioned by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the charity Grandparents Plus found that working-class grandmothers of working age on low incomes were more likely to have given up work or reduced their hours to care for grandchildren than those in wealthier families.

Working-class women were more likely to be young grandmothers, defined as under 50-years-old, than middle-class women, while their younger relatives were less likely to be able to afford formal childcare arrangements.

Giving up their own jobs to plug the childcare gap had a big impact on grandmothers’ income – nearly two-thirds of grandmothers who had given up work or reduced their hours to care for their grandchildren were managing on a very low household income.

The report showed that while across demographic groups, one in three families rely on grandparents to provide some kind of childcare on a weekly basis, among single-parent families that figure rises to between half and two-thirds. Children of these families are nearly twice as likely to experience economic hardship than the wider population.

It said more than half of families with a disabled child live in poverty or are in danger of sinking into it, and that grandparents in these families play a considerable role in providing emotional, practical and financial support, particularly during times of crisis.

It also found that ethnic minority households are most likely to have a grandparent, child and grandchild all living under the same roof, which it said often led to the expectation that grandparents would take on high levels of childcare.

The report, Protect, Support, Provide, was based on new data from the British Social Attitudes survey, together with a review of literature on the role of grandparents role in society.

The researchers said historically the contribution grandparents made to their grandchildren’s lives had been “underestimated and under-recorded”, but it was known that it varied widely from occasional childcare support through to substantial periods of regular childcare to enable parents to return to work.

They added: “The cosy (stereotypical) image of the benevolent, middle-class grandparent with the resources and time to ’spoil’ their grandchildren is familiar for some but it does not reflect the reality for many.”

The groups behind the report said the government’s aims of increasing the numbers of lone parents in work and increasing the employment rate of older people as they approach retirement were working in conflict with each other.

Kay Carberry, commissioner at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: “The contribution of grandparents cannot be ignored. Without the free childcare they give, many parents would not be able to work. This is particularly important in low income families that may find it difficult to pay for childcare.”

Sam Smethers, chief executive of Grandparents Plus, said: “Until very recently we’ve seen a failure to consider the importance of grandparents in family life. This has made them invisible to government, so it’s not surprising that targets on child poverty and older people’s poverty are working against each other.

“It’s time the government recognized that grandparents provide the last line of defense between millions of children and that poverty line. They need recognition and better emotional, financial and practical support.”

To make life easier for grandparents, the groups are calling on the government to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees and to abolish the default retirement age.

They also want to work with Jobcentre Plus advisers to accommodate the needs of the wider family and ensure the forthcoming Child Poverty Commission considers the role of grandparents in their work.

No Expiration

tyko — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:31:21 +0000

No Thank You, Granny, I’m Full

tyko — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 02:01:12 +0000

Grandparents who care for children ‘boost obesity risk’

By Emma Wilkinson
Health reporter, BBC News

Grandma doesn’t always know best when it comes to diet

Young children who are regularly looked after by their grandparents have an increased risk of being overweight, an extensive British study has suggested.

Analysis of 12,000 three-year olds suggested the risk was 34% higher if grandparents cared for them full time.

Children who went to nursery or had a childminder had no increased risk of weight problems, the International Journal of Obesity reported.

Nearly a quarter of preschool children in the UK are overweight or obese.

The researchers said very little research had been done on the influence of childcare on weight.

We know that obesity is a very complex issue with a wide range of factors involved

Department of Health spokesman

Yet childcare may have an effect on weight through diet and physical activity.

The study used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, which looked at the health of children aged between nine months and three years old, who had been born in the UK between 2000 and 2001.

The results showed that those looked after by grandparents part-time had a 15% higher risk of being overweight for their age compared with those solely looked after by their parents.

Those who were cared for by their grandparents full-time had a 34% increased risk of being overweight, the University College London team found.

Further analysis taking into account the child’s socio-economic background, found the increased risk was only apparent in children from the most advantaged groups – whose mothers had a managerial or professional job, had a degree, or lived with their partner.

There was also an increased risk of being overweight associated with other informal care provided by relatives or friends but only if that was full-time.

‘Best alternative’

The researchers said it was well-recognised that parents value care provided by grandparents and consider it to be the best alternative to full-time parent care.

They said the issue was about providing informal carers, such as grandparents, with better information and support around diet and exercise.

A recent announcement to provide grandparents with National Insurance credits for caring for grandchildren under the age of 13 years for at least 20 hours a week from 2011, “provides a potential opportunity for such health promotion”, they advised.

Study leader Professor Catherine Law said this study, which was backed by other work done in the US, did not look at why grandparent care was associated with being overweight but that indulgence of children and lack of physical exercise were two possible explanations.

“One of the ways forward would be to talk to small groups of grandparents to see the challenges they face.

“Some of the things that might help would be educating the population in general about healthy lifestyles but also things like avoiding food as a reward and suggestions for building activities into daily life.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We know that obesity is a very complex issue with a wide range of factors involved.

“The latest figures show that child obesity levels are the lowest reported since 2001. However, there’s no doubt that levels of obesity in this country, as in the rest of the developed world, are far too high.

“That’s why we’re investing time, energy and money into preventing people from becoming obese in the first place.

Grandparents Info. Too Simplistic?

tyko — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:21:31 +0000

Thursday January 21,2010

By Sarah O’Grady

FAMILIES minister Ed Balls was last night accused of patronising grandparents after launching a £2.2million website which provides “absurd” childcare tips.

Taxpayer-funded BeGrand.net offers advice on changing a nappy, stopping a baby crying and getting teenagers to eat their greens.

One article informs grandmothers and grandfathers how old their grandchild can be before they are left at home alone, while another lists what to look for in a good childcare provider.

Here’s a link to the complete story.

Grandma’s Boyfriend

tyko — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 07:56:02 +0000

A 5-year-old boy went to visit his grandmother one day. Playing with
his toys in her bedroom while grandma was dusting, he looked up and
said,

“Grandma, how come you don’t have a boyfriend now that Grandpa went to
heaven?”

Grandma replied, “Honey, my TV is my boyfriend. I can sit in my bedroom
and watch it all day long. The religious programs make me feel good and
the comedies make me laugh. I’m happy with my TV as my boyfriend.”

Grandma turned on the TV, and the reception was terrible. She started
adjusting the knobs, trying to get the picture in focus. Frustrated,
she started hitting the backside of the TV, hoping to fix the problem.

The little boy heard the doorbell ring, so he hurried to open the door,
and there stood Grandma’s minister.

The minister said, “Hello, son, is your Grandma home?”

The little boy replied, “Yeah, she’s in the bedroom bangin’ her
boyfriend.

Anonymous

Grandparents…

tyko — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:01:15 +0000

… oft’ times are the primary childcare providers. This was true in my case, for the better part of my first five years of existence. My grandparents, Phil and Rose Niss, were terrific. Their unconditional love and caring, was easy for me to pass on to my son, Phillip [named after both of his grandfathers].

My grandfather’s passion, baseball, has become mine, and I never not think of him at the ballpark.

Let’s discuss our experiences…