I am thankful for Facebook. I mentioned recently in a blog post my love-hate relationship with the social media piranha of this current age and - rage. While I won't go in to those things I dislike about Facebook here - because it is a 'things I am thankful for' post, I will say I am thankful for Facebook because it is where both of my daughters who live out of state, hours and many hours away, occasionally post photos of my grandchildren and, thus, it is how I am kept informed of things like - how they are growing, and again, thus, what I am missing, too.
And, yes! I am very thankful for Sophia, too! She is loved from afar. I know how much I have missed. She really doesn't even know me.
Besides Facebook, I wanted to share some creative ways I have been thinking about 'keeping in touch', besides talking on the phone, although this is a great way. And, besides FaceTime: My youngest daughter has an iphone so we are able to FaceTime, regularly. Her youngest son, my youngest grandson, Samuel, calls out 'Grammy' every time Ashley's phone rings to FaceTime. He'll climb on to her lap so he can 'see' me. Geez, I am so thankful for FaceTime.
My oldest daughter doesn't have an iPhone. I think hers is a Samsung so we are unable to FaceTime, so getting to see her kids, my other 3 grandchildren, just doesn't happen except through photos. Anyway, I wanted to share some ideas I've had to keep in touch. And, maybe these will be ideas we could potentially implement.
1. A letter journal or a round robin journal. This could be something I could do with my oldest granddaughter, Ella. We could pass a journal back and forth with a continuous letter from each other. It could include more than letters even: Favorite quotes, funny sayings, things someone said, gratitudes, photos of each other...I think this would be such a fun connection between us.
2. With my youngest it is super easy to stay connected because we FaceTime. But, with my older daughter as we have different phones, Skyping would be a great alternative. Definitely should set up a Skype app account.
3. Long-distance book club. As a reader this would be awesome to do with all of my older grandkids. I could read a young adult book with Ella, and even middle school books with my grandsons. We could talk about them while FaceTime or Skyping. Win-win. Connecting with my grandchildren in their likes and reading!