Posts for 'GrandParents' Category

So you thought you knew about CPR techniques. You were certified prior to October 2005 as a CPR trained individual. NEWSFLASH! It is NOW time that you get CPR re-certified! If you have never been CPR trained, go do it. As parents, grandparents or anyone entrusted the care of our children CPR is a vital technique in our toolkit for emergency response.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), according to the American Heart Association 2005 document, "2005 AHA Guidelines for CPR and ECC", has been modified for all categories - Infant, Child and Adult. From Choking to full CPR response grandparents and parents alike must get trained. Your infant and children's lives could depend on your ability to administer proper choking and CPR response techniques.

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Like generations before, grandparents are adjusting successfully to the language of their grand children.  Caring grandparents have always been good at finding ways to communicate with the youth of the generation.  The digital age brings with it new ways for grandparents to connect with their children and grandchildren and some of the digital technologies offer great advantages.

Grandparents are connecting with social media. Grandparents are flocking to social media like Face book and My Space in droves and not just to communicate with their grand children but to communicate with their friends, family and naturally they want to keep up with the career of Betty White.  All kidding aside, Grandparents are getting pictures via Face book and using online chat to keep up with the family.  In some ways the digital age has made our world much smaller, live chat with Grandma is one of those ways.

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A California couple have become the unlikely stars of the family blog world. Harry and Barbara Cooper have a couple of thousand fans on Facebook and thousands more are visiting their website daily — not bad for two love birds pushing the century mark.

At the Hollenbeck Palms retirement and nursing home in Los Angeles, they're simply known as Harry and Barbara. He's 98; she's 93. But to their thousands of Internet fans, they're the OGs, short for "original grandparents."

On their website, Barbara and Harry, married 72 years, espouse charming advice, wisdom and uncensored wit in featured videos like Around the Hood and restaurant reviews. Ask Grandma Anything is the most popular video blog — and no subject is off limits.

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The maternal grandparents of a four-year-old girl found dead at her home in West Sussex said she "charmed us in everything she did and learned". The body of Keira Madden was found in a bedroom at around the same time her mother, Catherine Madden, 40, threw herself from a cliff top 50 miles away in East Sussex at the weekend.

On Tuesday night, police revealed a note apparently written by Mrs Madden, known as Cathy, was found next to Keira's body claiming she had drowned after slipping in the sea the previous day. A post-mortem examination on Keira's body has proved inconclusive and police are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to establish her cause of death.

In a statement issued through Sussex Police on Wednesday, Keira's maternal grandparents said the pair adored each other and "nothing came between that love". It said: "Keira was born in August 2005 and the time since that magic moment has become the most wonderful time of our lives.

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Sukesh and Megha are happy-go-lucky, well-fed children who attend school and stay happily with their maternal grandparents. Their parents died of AIDS a few years ago and the siblings too are HIV positive but they are not aware of their condition. Their grandmother Kanta has ensured that they take regular medication, eat nutritious food and are kept away from family members who are likely to discriminate against them due to their disease.

"My daughter and son-in-law were turned out of their home by her in-laws family after they were diagnosed with HIV. Even after their death, that family has never bothered to find out about the well-being of the children," says Kantaben.

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DISTANCE was no barrier for families who travelled to grandparents day at Glenmore Park Public School last Thursday.Families came from Dubbo, Mudgee, Taree, the north coast and Melbourne to celebrate the day, which is set to become an annual event.“We have had similar days before but not on this scale and we want to hold one every year.

“Parents and grandparents have been calling and thanking us for organising it.“It was a good opportunity for the children to have their grandparents over and it makes community spirit stronger.” Mrs Collins said the main aim was to create an opportunity for students and grandparents to link up through school.

“It was also an opportunity for grandparents to be part of their grandchildren’s learning for a short time and to see how schooling has developed,” she said. Kindergarten students made funny face biscuits with their grandparents and also got them to help with hand printing.

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GRANDPARENTS got to go back to school when they were invited to attend a special lunch in their honour.
Cundall Manor School, near Ripon, held the event to celebrate the contribution grandparents make. Among those enjoying the day was a former pupil at the school, Joan Blair, whose two year old grandson, Archie, is in the nursery department. 'thank you'

Headmaster Peter Phillips said: "Continuity and the huge value of families are very important here. Grandparents are often very supportive, as with Mrs Blair, and Grandparents' Day is a way that the school can say thank you to them."

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Calling Friday's annual Grandparents' Day Picnic at Cassadaga Elementary the "last great festival," Principal Roberta Traks said the 16th annual event was the school's " last big hurrah." She said the more than 300 grandparents and family members who attended the lunch time celebration along with more than 250 kindergarten through fifth-grade students was the biggest turnout ever.

"It's as if everyone attending our picnic celebration knows it will be the last big one," she said. The reason for this rests in the fact that the district's third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students all will be housed next school year at Sinclairville Elementary School.

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Older relatives in this country are said by Grandparents Plus, a campaign group, to enjoy fewer benefits and privileges than those on the Continent. Although a third of working mothers in Britain are thought to rely on their own parents to provide childcare, they cannot transfer maternity leave to them or pay them with tax credits or vouchers.

As happens elsewhere in the EU. In addition, grandparents cannot request flexible working in order to look after their grandchildren. A survey published alongside the new analysis of state recognition of grandparents across Europe shows that 70 per cent believe they should be paid for their childcare services.

Sam Smethers, the chief executive of Grandparents Plus, said: “This study reveals that a number of our European neighbours are both recognizing the role that grandparents are playing and giving families control over their lives, supporting the decisions that they make. We need to do that for families in the UK too.

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When we consider the care of a family member with memory impairment, we often think of adult children and elderly spouses as the key players in the caregiving. Younger family members often go unrecognized for their role in this journey.

Teens may sit silently on the sidelines wondering what is really happening to grandma and yearning to be included. Innocent questions arise as they try to understand why grandma is "different" now.Open, honest communication is the best course of action to answer their questions and help them learn about the illness facing grandma.

Trying to protect them by not sharing details about what will happen to grandma as the disease processes simply puts everyone at a disadvantage. Including younger family members in the caregiving journey creates lasting memories and teaches life lessons about the value of life, health and family ties.

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