So, guess what? My granddaughters came over to hang out with me for a whole four days! You won't believe how happy it made me when they both got super excited about cooking. My older granddaughter has cooked with me before, but this was the first time my younger granddaughter wanted to join in on the fun, too!

My mom always encouraged me to make my bed in the morning. But as a youngster, I always wondered what the point was. I woke up in the morning, left for school, came home, did homework, ate dinner, watched TV, and then went back to bed. Why make my bed when I return in the evening to unmake it again? Little did I know she was teaching me how to change the world.

My husband is a historian, and I'm a museum freak. We both will visit any museum we can find when we travel. We are using our passion with our grandchildren. Granted, many school groups visit museums through their schools, but when you have 30+ kids running through a museum, there is no real quality time with each exhibit, nor is there any context into what they are seeing. They have check-off lists. Did they see a duck? Did they see an ancient coin? It may be a fun scavenger hunt for the kids, but how much information do they retain? And there is no context.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...I moved to Georgia to be a teacher. I was accustomed to answering questions with yes/no at my home galaxy of Illinois. To my surprise, in this galaxy known as the South, all my students would say "Yes, Ma'am" and "No, Ma'am." But after a little cultural emersion, I really began appreciating this bit of etiquette. In fact, I, too, began to use "Yes, Ma'am" and "No, Ma'am" and "Yes Sir" and "No Sir" when talking to others.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to explore the iconic world of Barbie dolls. From the moment our children played with these dolls to now watching our grandchildren enjoy them, Barbie has been a cherished part of our family's history. Join us as we share our thoughts, memories, and observations about how Barbie has evolved through the generations.

Can you count change without using a computer cash register? If so, you may want to read this…NOW.

My sisters and I learned how to make change even before we were tall enough to reach the cash register at our family’s store. We remember our great aunt counting the money the store took in that day. We would be watching the Wonderful World Of Color while she sat at the table.

So, what is a “Family Economy?” It is learning about earning, saving, spending, and giving money with the safety of making mistakes within the family unit and making it very clear that money is something you must EARN. With that definition, why would you give an allowance? Isn’t that free money? Maybe.

How did you use your allowance?

My hard-earned, coveted money wasn't easy to part with. Still, when I was 13, I took my allowance and went to the 5&10 store and bought a pair of knitting needles, a skein of yarn, and a pamphlet on how to knit, and I dove in. The first two projects in the booklet were 1) a headband (to learn the knit stitch) and 2) a triangular headscarf (to learn how to add and subtract stitches as well as use the purl stitch.