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Web Log
: Grandparents
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Seven Ways to Make Games (&, Actually, Almost Anything) More Fun
(v. 1.2)
1. If there are two sides, add a third or take one away.
2. Every now and then, change sides: when someone is ahead by two somethings or when someone throws a 9, or when somebody has to go to the bathroom.
3. If there are turns (checkers, gin rummy, serving the ball in ping pong or volleyball), take them together, at the same time, as in "1, 2, 3...go," or every now and then skip a turn.
4. If there is score, keep playing until you discover who's the second winner, and the third, and the next, and the last. Or give each other points, or play pointlessly.
5. If it's not fun, change it: add another ball, or a rule, or a goal, or take a rule away, or change a rule, or borrow a rule from another game, or add a whole game and play them both at once, or do something silly.
6. If it's still not fun, change yourself: try it with your eyes closed, or with your "wrong" hand, or tie yourself to someone else.
7. If it makes the game better, cheat.
(Edited by Major Fun with contributions by Matt Weinstein, Elyon De Koven, and Jon Jenkins.)
courtesy of The Oaqui*
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"In the contact between the child and the grandmother, both have a great deal to learn. On the whole, I think the child has more to give the grandmother. But it is the essence of a child that he should give what he has to give unconsciously; it is the essence of a grandmother that she should give it consciously, out of the clear cunning of years."
—G. K. Chesterton
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Never have children. Only have grandchildren.
Gore Vidal
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GRANDPARENTING OBSERVED IN BIRDS
A team of scientists led by the University of East Anglia has discovered the existence of ‘grandparent’ helpers in the Seychelles warbler – the first time this behaviour, which rarely occurs except in humans, has been observed in birds.
Research carried out over more than 20 years on a population on Cousin Island in theSeychelles has revealed that, as in humans, older adults that no longer breed themselves often help their children to raise grandchildren.
The concept is of evolutionary importance as it provides another route to co-operative breeding - where adult individuals appear to act altruistically by helping the dominant pair in the group to rear offspring.
Co-operative breeding is known to take place in birds, mammals and in some fish. But the ‘helpers’ are usually offspring from previous years who, because of a lack of breeding opportunities elsewhere, stay within the territory and become subordinates who help their parents rear more young.
In the case of the Seychelles warbler, co-operative breeding occurs because the island is full and many birds cannot find suitable habitat in which to breed, so they instead become helpers.
For more than 10 years Dr David Richardson from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences has been studying the Seychelles warbler, once one of the world’s rarest birds. He explained that the existence of what he terms ‘grandparent’ helpers has, until now, been largely overlooked outside humans. The results of the research are published in the journal Evolution (Vol 61, issue 12, December 2007).
Older, often postreproductive adults have occasionally been found to engage in similar behaviour in a very small number of mammal species, such as pilot whales and some monkeys, but there is little documented evidence.
The study found that dominant females can be deposed from their breeding position by younger relatives. While some deposed females may then leave to live out a solitary life, a large proportion will stay to help these related females (often daughters) to reproduce.
“Because the subordinate females are helping to raise offspring they are related to, they are helping to produce more birds and increasing the spread of their genes,” said Dr Richardson.
“For those birds prevented from breeding because of a lack of suitable habitat, this is an effective strategy. They are helping their daughters to raise their grandchildren by helping to protect and provision these offspring. This has never been seen in birds.”
Dr Richardson added: “It is important because it provides a case that may reflect what happens in humans and gives us a way of looking at what pressures are creating these ‘grandparent’ helpers.
“This gives us a model to look at how this might have evolved. It’s a way to compare and contrast what has been observed in humans.”
The team, which includes Terry Burke from the University of Sheffield and Jan Komdeur of theUniversity of Groningen, in the Netherlands, will continue their research on the species, for example looking at why dominant females are deposed in the first place.
“In the long term we want to look at why certain females carry on breeding and why others seem to get deposed and become grandparent helpers,” said Dr Richardson. “Are they being pushed out or are they moving out to allow their daughters to breed? We don’t know whether they are getting pushed out by their male partner or their daughter.”
The work completed so far has been combined with efforts to conserve the species in conjunction with Nature Seychelles, an independent environmental organisation. In the 1960s the number of Seychelles warblers was down to just 26 on Cousin Island, a result of the human colonisation of the Seychelles, which brought with it loss of habitat for coconut plantations and the introduction of rats. Today there are roughly 350 birds on Cousin Island alone, with more than 2000 birds now inhabiting three other islands to which the Seychelles warbler has been successfully translocated.
Source
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"Grandparents have a wealth of knowledge and talents that should be shared and enjoyed with their grandchildren. In addition, they can serve as valuable sources of support for parents. For instance, they can help identify early signs of giftedness in their grandchild, nurture the child’s special needs and interests, address areas of academic and social-emotional concern, and develop an educational plan for the child. Grandparents are a precious resource. The personal legacy they have to share will captivate and inspire future generations."
—Frances A. Karnes, PhD, and Kevin Besnoy
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An interesting article: "Grandmother: 150 Years of One Family's History"
Excerpt: "I'm glad to be the inheritor of so many stories, but most of all, I'm glad that my grandmother, who died only three months short of living through three centuries of history, was able to pass on so much rich detail before her final passing."
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From the Duke University Gifted Letter:
Parents of gifted children and youth have resources available to them both in school and in the community. However, there is an often overlooked resource in the family itself—grandparents. Parents can encourage interaction between grandchildren and grandparents by sharing information related to the grandchildren’s giftedness, their special interests, and their school’s educational programs with grandparents. The more information grandparents have about their grandchildren, the better they can plan rewarding and enjoyable experiences with them.
The most precious gifts grandparents can give to their grandchildren are time and attention. Despite physical and generational distances, communication can take place through activities using computers, cell phones, video and digital cameras, audiotapes, and CDs, as well as through methods that have stood the test of time—letters, postcards, and cards for special occasions. The following are suggested activities for grandparents and grandchildren, depending on age and interest levels.
Read the tips about family history, cooking, cultural events, trips, and projects at this link.
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"What Bell had was a seemingly perfect grandmother. She would play with him, take him out to see the sights of the world, and make his favorite food. Yet if that was all she stood for, her influence would have faded with time."
—Ace Collins, I Saw Him in Your Eyes
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"Makoto never knew his grandmother, but he and his sisters lived with her legend. Grandmother was perfect; Grandmother was generous; Grandmother might not have been a beauty, but she was loved and respected; Grandmother suffered tremendously, and that is what made her the ideal person. Grandmother was 'kazoku no giseisha,' a family martyr."
—Matthews Masayuki Hamabata, Crested Kimono
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The Perfect Grandmother is:
* wise, funny, filled with stories, on the eccentric side, strong-willed, tender (Deborah Patton, Bed and Breakfasts and Country Inns of New England)
* witty, alert, affectionate, tolerant, sympathetic, and the centre of a family circle that adores her (Robert Underwood Johnson, Remembered Yesterdays)
* loving, sympathetic, understanding (John Wintterle, Robert Koga)
* healthy, loving, capable (Angie Williams, Intergenerational Communication Across the Life Span)
* teacher, storyteller, ancestor of the female line (Barbara Stevenson, Crossing the Bridge)
* rosy cheeks and snow-white hair pulled back in a bun (Sharon Travers, The Oak Grove)
* nary a skeleton in her closet (Larry Jaconson, The Lower Lights)
* warm and motherly (Horton Foote, Genesis of an American Playwright)
* simple-minded, indulgent, and rich (Bithia Mary Crocker, A Certain Age)
* all softness and warmth, the ideal grandmother. Everybody loves her, and she loves everybody. (Susan Feldman, A Certain Age)
* inspirational: "She was an ideal grandmother, and I am sure that she inspired members of successive generations just as she inspired me." (Ahmad Kathrada, Memoirs)
* stereotype of the ideal grandmother: "a traditional woman who is old, domestic, and nurturing" (Dorothy Rogers, Adult Years)
* "The ideal grandmother figure who saw all and said little" (Ana O., Impossible Princess)
* "a woman of huge energy, great authority and a wicked sense of humour" (Geoff Dench, Grandmothers: The Changing Culture)
* "a graceful, shadowy person, sitting, her feet on a hassock, like Whistler's mother; someone who has none of the impulses of youth, which, in a grandmother, the younger generation finds so disconcerting. Even the costume of this ideal is decided upon by our exacting young people. She shall wear, our ideal grandmother, soft black or gray draperies, a piece of beautiful old lace at her neck, or a white fichu of rare old-fashioned workmanship crossed on her bosom." (Mary Heaton Vorse, Autobiography of an Elderly Woman)
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