I had such a rich experience with all of my grandparents growing up. They all lived only a few streets over from my house. My grandmother Haislip, was especially there for me from the time I was a child to a young adult and made a large impact on my life.
My own grandmother had been such a influence on my everyday life. So how could I be such a grandmother to my grandson when he was thousands of miles away?!
My husband and I were blessed with our first 
grandchild a few months ago and it is such a joy!
However, my daughter, her husband, and our new grandson live across the country – I live in California and they live in Tennessee!
Realistically, I probably will only see in him in person one to three times a year! I really have been wrestling with the idea of being a long distance grandmother!
So this is what inspired this blog series. I want to be on the look-out for ideas that will help me be a great long distant grandmother. And when I find some Ideas I will share them with you dear reader!
The first Idea we will explore is sending your long distance grandchild a book. When I have talked to some of my friends that live far from their 
grandchildren they tell me to send him a book.
That is ok, but let’s see if I can make it more special and memorable!
For Example: Make a habit of sending each grandchild a book once a month or every several months – kind of like a Book of the Month Club for Grandchildren! Pick a theme or focus on special subjects that you like to talk about when you’re together or over the phone. Underline, or make some comments in the book 
before sending. Write a special message in the front of the book, sign and date it! Ask them to write a special message in the front or back of the book after they have read it. (Have parents help if they are to young to write in it!). Also, ask them to underline special parts of the book and write comments in the margins too! The book will be more precious over time if it marked up with special writings from grandparents and grandchild!
Have the parent take photos of the child reading the story and have them send the photos to you! After you have the photos you can scrap them!
Think about making a scrapbook of the the books and memories! Then give the scrapbook to the child when they graduate from High school or College!
In the scrap page you could include images of the book, photos of the child and the book, and images of you at the time you sent the book!
I think this is a great idea and I am going to start picking out my first book to send to my grandson today! I think this will be one way to stay close to him despite the miles!
Stay tuned for more in this series of ideas for Long Distance Grandmothers!
Enjoy!
Special Note: Now most the ideas in this blog will work if you are a long distance grandmother or even a closer one, also the ideas could be used even if you are a mother, and maybe a school teacher too! So even if you are not so far from the child you love – you can still make it special!
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