October 26, 2015

Spooky stories, plus GRAND Social No. 178 link party for grandparents

October 26, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

Spooky stories

Sheesh! Can you believe Halloween is Saturday!? Time flies at such a scary speed!

Thankfully there's still time (admittedly little) to sit with a kiddo or two and enjoy scary Halloween tales together. Scary being relative, of course. I've shared a few sorta-scary ideas in the Back Room, some to read with a child in your lap, some for bigger kids to enjoy on their own:

Click on that graphic above to get the details on each of the festive tales from Candlewick Press I had the pleasure of reviewing over the weekend. I look forward to...

October 22, 2015

'The Grandparent Economy:' Q&A with author Lori K. Bitter

October 22, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

Most of us reading (or writing) Grandma's Briefs are grandparents. Which means most of us here know how much money grandparents spend on their grandchildren, their parents, their children and, when there's a smidgen left, on ourselves.

Interestingly, marketers don't seem to know how much we grandparents spend on ourselves and our loved ones. Or so it seems. Perhaps they do know—some brands clearly do—though they have yet to figure out how to effectively reach us with messages on the services and products we want to see, want to use, want to buy.

grandparent economy book Author Lori K. Bitter lends them a hand in her new book on the topic, The Grandparent Economy: How Baby Boomers Are Bridging the Generation Gap ($34.95, Paramount Market Publishing), which I recently received free for review.

The 138-page primer on engaging the 65 million grandparents in the United States is a must-read for marketers. And, thanks to all the graphs and stats and tidbits Bitter provides on...

October 07, 2015

Fall visits the desert

October 07, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

My daughter Megan loves living in the desert. The only time she misses the seasons of Colorado is in the fall. Fall simply isn't the same where saguaros grow tall and javelinas roam wild.

four-year-old at park

Earlier this week Megan texted some pictures to Jim and me. The weather was uncharacteristically fall-like in the desert, she said, so she took Mac and Jak—while Bubby was in school—to...

October 05, 2015

A taste of Ireland, plus GRAND Social No. 175 link party for grandparents

October 05, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

A taste of Ireland

Jim and I went to Ireland last Thursday—by way of Denver.

Okay, we didn't get to fully experience Ireland, but we did get a taste of the heritage, culture, and cuisine thanks to an invitation to the "Jump into Ireland" roadshow in Denver, presented by Tourism Ireland.

jump into ireland

During the special evening, my husband and I were treated to Irish...

October 01, 2015

Rest in peace, Grandma Nina

October 01, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

It's with a very heavy heart that I share the passing of one of the first grandma bloggers I met online, soon after I began blogging in 2009.

Nina Knox was one of my first Grilled Grandmas. She was the consummate grandma, filled with grace and love. We shared blogging stories, tips, and ideas for quite some time, but in the past few years our connection faded. We were in some of the same blogging groups together, but never close.

I knew from being in a shared Facebook group that Nina unexpectedly became quite ill when visiting Hawaii in May. She was hospitalized for quite some time, seemed to improve...

September 23, 2015

Love, Grandma: 6 tips on writing memorable messages for grandchildren

September 23, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

Putting words on paper—or pixel, as the case may be in high-tech communications—can be difficult at times. Especially at the times that matter most, those milestone moments we want our sentiments to perfectly convey what's in our hearts and be cherished forever by loved ones.

what to write to grandchild

I often get email requests from grandparents to help them write the right words in greeting cards, letters, baby books and...

September 17, 2015

Wherein a grandson samples sports and a grandma admits her paranoia

September 17, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

My oldest grandson, at seven-years-old, has already tried his hand at many sports.

Bubby has mastered swimming. He's progressed from T-ball to baseball. He's sampled soccer and running and basketball and wall climbing. Plus others I've likely forgot (or didn't photograph).

Bubby's latest sporty venture? Flag football!