I'm A Grandmother!! Now What?!

About the Book

            I think that the sub-title of my book, Ideas on How to Have Fun with Your Grandchildren, reveals what the book is about.   As grandmother-friends shared in conversation their stories of unique and interesting things they were doing with their grandchildren, I felt that these ideas needed to be shared with others.  When I was a parent, I tried to read every good book I could find on parenting, but I could find no “how-to” books for grandmothers.  Now that I was finally a grandmother, I wanted to know how to be a good one!

            I interviewed many very creative grandmothers from various parts of the country.  They shared the joy of being a grandmother and memories of their own grandmothers, which are quite touching.  I asked them for their best ideas for play-time and story-time with their grandchildren.   As a teacher, I wanted to know how they might encourage a love for reading and learning, in general.  How did they celebrate holidays and birthdays with them?  What were some tips for traveling with them?  I wanted to know how “long-distance” grandmothers kept in touch.  I wanted to know what they did to help their precious ones develop a relationship with their Creator.

            Although my initial purpose in writing this book was to help grandmothers, including myself, find ways to have fun with their grandchildren – providing ideas for all kinds of activities we can do with them and learning about resources for toys, books, games, etc. – I believe that the key to being a positive force in the lives of our grandchildren is not in “what we do”, but instead in “who we are” when we are with them. 

            I don’t know that I have unique qualifications for writing this book.  I am just a grandmother who enjoys writing, but I hope that the ideas in this book will help other grandmothers (grandparents) know how to help their grandchildren become the best that they can be – how to fulfill the purpose God has for their lives.  Grandparents need to know how to encourage, how to establish traditions, how to help them, how to love them. 

About the Author

            Toni Stone, who was a school teacher for almost 20 years, collaborated with her students in 1984 in writing Campbell County Chronicles: The Way We Were, the history of Campbell Country, Wyoming.  The popularity of the book resulted in three printings and earned her the Wyoming’s “History Teacher of the Year Award”.   The following year she guided her students in writing two books of poetry, one written and illustrated by her ninth grade class, the other by her 7^th grade class in Gillette, Wyoming.  

            As Language Arts Coordinator for the Campbell County School District, she published “The Write Stuff”, a monthly newsletter to encourage teachers to promote writing in their classrooms.   During that time she facilitated the publishing of an anthology of students’ work, prose and poetry, K-12.   Her own students were generous contributors to this anthology.

            When Toni and her family moved to Houston in 1987, she wrote a monthly newsletter for their subdivision, Ponderosa Forest.  While teaching in a psychiatric hospital for severely emotionally disturbed children, K-12, she encouraged her students to write about their experiences and feelings.   When they moved to Stillwater, she became involved in writing promotional articles for various organizations to which she belonged. 

            Mrs. Stone would say that her greatest blessing was her family – husband, Bill; children, Stefanie and Shellie, and son-in-law, Paul; and grandchildren, Sara, Ashley, and Luke.   It was her love for them that encouraged her to research and write this book, I’M A GRANDMOTHER!!   NOW WHAT?!  Great Ideas on How to Have Fun with Your Grandchildren!