Postage-Free Packages for Grandchildren Far Away
By Lois Breneman, Copyright © 2007, Heart to Heart
Newsletter
There are unique ways to enrich long distance
relationships with children and grandchildren, and I'd like to share one
with you. Our four year old young grandson and infant
granddaughter live a good distance away, so we as grandparents don't get
to see them nearly as often as we'd like. We do talk on the phone
often, of course, but that's not the same as giving and receiving those
wonderful hugs and spending time with our grandchildren, making crafts,
cooking, playing games, reading, fishing, and sharing other fun
hands-on activities with them. All of you grandparents with
grandchildren living out of state can empathize and understand that
great void felt in the hearts of grandmas and grandpas in this
situation.
Recently when I learned the latest high cost of
mailing even one small story book, I decided on an alternative route
requiring no postage at all. I wrapped quite a few story books individually
in brown paper, using paper grocery bags with no print on the inside.
After taping them with packaging tape from the dollar store, I addressed
each package to our grandson, Justin, along with his address, happy face
stamps and return address labels. Some packages were embellished
with rubber stamp designs.
Next rather than actually mailing each package to
his home, when our daughter's family visited recently, I gave his
parents a bag full of individually wrapped packages of books, stickers and
small toys to take home, to put in a special hiding place. In the
future I plan to also including an Alka Seltzer Rocket Kit,
something Justin and I have already had fun doing together.
Now that our daughter has several packages for
Justin, I e-mail a message to her to stick one in the mailbox
for Justin on certain days. I have also told her she could stick
one in the mailbox for him to find whenever she thinks he needs a
special lift. As soon as our infant granddaughter, Ryan Elizabeth,
is able to enjoy such fun gifts, she will receive some personal packages
as well, though for now I plan to simply wrap up little outfits for her
brother or parents to open for her. I've got a big stash of
darling outfits waiting for her to grow into that I found at a wonderful
yard sale and even more adorable outfits from Goodwill - each
one for only a dollar, although they all look like new!
So grandparents, here's a low cost tip on how we
can still be a special part of our grandchildren's lives, even from
a distance, to express our love to both our children and grandchildren,
without actually "mailing" packages all the time. We
grandparents can be a vital part in sharing God's love and building
character into the lives of our grandchildren. Today Justin
called to thank me for a book he received in a package!
This could also be a suggestion that moms might
want to pass on to their children's grandparents to save them some money
which could be used instead for an extra trip to visit the
grandchildren!
Lois Breneman is the Editor of the Heart
to Heart Newsletter, a ministry for the purpose of bringing practical
encouragement to women through creative ideas for the Christian family
– regarding homemaking, marriage, children and much more. You
may receive this free bimonthly newsletter by sending your name, city,
state, country and the name of the person who referred you to Lois at
jhbreneman@juno.com. A
"Start-Up Kit" will be sent upon subscribing.
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