Grandpa Richards Kids

I have always been fascinated by the fact that many cultures put much more emphasis on name meanings than many North Americans do. I know that my Anglo-Saxon given names, Richard and William, have meanings, but that is not why my parents picked them.

Here is a guest article about name meanings, written by Warren Wong. Enjoy.

A given name or a first name is the name given to a person to differentiate that person from someone else in the family or someone who carries the same surname or last name. This name is given to a person by the parents or guardians. The name is not carried down from generation to generation like the surname. Different groups have different name meanings and use the given names and surnames in different ways. Read the rest…

My grand daughter Jasmine has a new pet. A snail. She found it in the garden and has provided it with a home of water, pebbles, green growing plants, and a top with small air holes. Her mom even taught her that a snail is an hermaphrodite, meaning it is both a male and a female. Not sure what Jasmine thought of that. (and I’d like to know if her mom actually knew that word or looked it up online!!!)

She told me that its name is Shelley. My question back was, “What is its boy name”. A discussion ensued and she finally gave in and added Brayan to the name.

This got me thinking about other exotic, or non-traditional, pets. The resulting article is found at http://www.grandparichardskids.com/article/top-5-modern-pets.

Interesting coincidence considering the post about obese children yesterday.

I was waiting at a bus stop for my daughter’s fiance to pick me up. It was Kristina’s birthday and he had made reservations at a really nice restaurant. As usual, the ladies (my daughter and grand daughter) were a bit behind schedule, so Les came to pick me up while he was waiting.

While waiting, I noticed the ad on the side of the shelter. I did not write it down, but it went something like this.

“The average fast food meal supplies 60% of the daily calorie requirements of a child.”

The accompanying photo showed a young person looking at a note on the fridge. “Get your soccer stuff ready and we’ll do the drive through on the way to the game.”

Then another quote. “A good quality home cooked meal supplies all the nutrition and less than 1/2 of the calories needed by a growing child.”

So true.

Went shopping for groceries on Saturday. Walked down the cereal isle looking for good deals, as I will not bother getting cereal unless it’s on sale.

What types of deals were there? Lots of the cereals aimed at kids. You know the type. Half sugar and nutrients that have been added back in! I have always considered them over priced in the first place, anyhow.

What are we feeding our children?

My grand daughter celebrated her 5th birthday recently, and I was invited to the party.

WOW!!! Read the rest…

It’s summer, and in my head I can hear the sound of the ice cream guy coming. Sometimes it’s the truck version. Sometimes the bicycle version. Kids everywhere in Canada and the States must recognize that music. It has been a tradition for years.

Did you have these very often when you were young? My issue was controlling their arrival, or being able to stop my kids from hearing their bells, etc. Let’s close the front windows and turn up the stereo!

Well, now at work, as part of a promotion for a work supported charity, we have a modern truck version. I guess a portion of each sale is donated to our charity. I usually get the small chocolate flavoured cone.

Here’s to Captain Cone II. (every Thursday)

It’s inevitable that your child is going to graduate from school eventually and you may begin to feel the pangs of empty nest syndrome. While understandable, here are tips to help you deal with your child’s graduation.

Think about it for a moment. From birth until now, you have raised your child in preparation for this monumental day - graduation. All of the worries, late night talks, helping with homework, pacing the floor during exam time, have come to this final moment. It doesn’t matter whether your child is graduating from pre-K or high school, it seems as if the years have flown by, doesn’t it? Read the rest…

One of my best friends when I was growing up had been adopted. Watching his “dad” you would never know it. He cared for and loved his adopted son in the same way that he would have loved his own. This does not change when the child involved has problems

What is a special needs child? When asked in conjunction with adoption, the term takes on a slightly different definition. Each jurisdiction has a different set of guidelines that defines exactly what special needs means to them, however, most will include children with the following: physical or health problems, HIV positive, or prenatally exposed to alcohol or drugs. It takes a special couple to adopt this type of a child, but the love that develops is very special as well.

To read the rest of this article, click on the following link. Adopting a Special Needs Child

When Tim was young, my favourite toy to play with him was definitely his Lego blocks. Today I have two articles about this popular toy.

See the articles Lego - Perfect for Boy Or Girl and
Selecting the Best Lego Set.