Saved by a 4^th Grader!

The Pumponator Balloon Pumping Station was designed by Lexi Glenn, a fourth grader in SC. Why?

Balloons are fun.  Blowing them up isn't.

I get really excited about amazing new ways to make our GrandKids feel very Super-Special.

I think it's cool that we can turn our kids into fairies or princes or pirates or fish with glitter gills.

My keyboard's a magic wand, and with a few clicks, I am the Fairy GrandMother who sends my G!Kid into a magical adventure...

Who figured out how to make me a book publisher?

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I’ve determined that Boredom is one of the three leading causes of Adorable Offspring morphing occasionally into Miserable Monsters.

In my 30+ years of parenting and Grandparenting, I've tracked the effects meticulously, and concluded beyond doubt that Boredom is the worst of the three, edging out Tired and Hungry for 1^st Place.

So I try to treat it like a deadly communicable disease, with appropriate precautions and immediate antidotes available at all times.

And instant bubble therapy is happily one of my  favorites...

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Bath Time - Happy Hour or Horror Zone?

Bath time is a wonderful bonding time with our GrandKids.

And there's plenty to be nervous about!  Slippery tub sides, hot water faucet within easy reach, chewy toys, soapy eyes...

So how do we set up our GrandHomes to give everyone bath time peace of mind?

Here's the first dose of a Grandgifting 5-Part Series on Tub Time Essentials that can set the scene for a Happy Hour, and hopefullly keep us far out of the Horror Zone...

Let's start with: How to make effective kid bathing places in our adult spaces, and get bathtub Peace of Mind for less than $20?  Here are some ways...

Or, how to manage babes in the bathtub without being a Crouching Tiger movie star?

I still have visions of myself morphing into Michelle Yeoh, stunning my GrandKids into submission during bath rowdiness with my lightning fast 'wire-fu' stunts taken from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequences.

But even as a High School cheerleader I couldn't perform the pretzel twists it would take to manage slippery Grandchildren in the high-action drama we call 'the bath'.

It's an orthopedic nightmare and a chiropractor's dream to maintain the crouch, with arms-free to keep hands off the faucets, soap out of the eyes, and most of the water in the tub, not the floor.

But I've found a way...

Poison in the Bathtub?

Yikes!  An alarming development in child safety we need to get smart about:
Toxic Toy Terror!

Sucking on bath toys used to seem harmless - now we need to worry whether it's poisonous!

If toxin-hunting for BPA, PVC, and Phthalates in the bathtub makes your head swim, you're not alone.

And  if you're like me and often want to hide from Toxic Terrors because the info is too confusing, don't feel guilty.

Good news! Now we can trust reliable recommendations that all Sassy bath toys are BPA and phthalate-free and twelve of them are also PVC-free.

Why are most bath toys not good water toys?

read books ,  or race cars , or build blocks on water?

Or most unnerving - squeeze out ear-piercing squeaks that get amplified into jet engine blasts in the bathroom - while  irremovable mold is silently growing inside? Yuck!

Most of the bath toys I researched are just adaptations of land toys - not made for water play! Here's my advice for maximizing bath time adventure with minimal effort...

Secret Weapons for Dirt Busting Kids in the Tub

How to Get Kids Clean without Screams?

Losing love over hygiene hassles is no fun.

But, getting clean IS one of the main objectives of bath time....so...

Here are sneaky solutions for getting the dirt out while keeping the love in.

It’s the kind of invention we used to joke about – a tracker to know where the kids are at all times.

But now that convenient and colorful Amber Alert GPS child-tracking devices are a reality, I don’t know how I feel: Do I want to put them on the Grandkids as a safety measure? Or will I continue to try to believe my small world is a place where it’s not needed?

I was dreading the day that the world reality would force us into this corner.