Pierogi, Kluski, Golabki, Chrusciki, Makowiec are delicious words my sisters and I learned at birth from the Polish family we grew up with back in the late 50’s and early 60’s. Polish food is served at our weekly family get-togethers throughout the year, but they have a special meaning for the five of us sisters on Christmas Eve every year.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy  Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year to everyone.  Whatever holiday you are celebrating, be mindful of not allowing commercialization to get in the way of the traditions.  In 2021, everyone panicked about not getting gifts in time due to supply chain issues.  However, the gifts are not what is important.  It is getting together with family and friends with traditions old and new.  When you light a menorah, the seven candles, or the advent wreath, you are strengthening family bonds.  Traditions improve family stability, increase the feeling of belonging, and bring overall better well-being and health.

As we countdown until Christmas, we are beginning to see festive decorations lining the streets of our towns and neighborhoods. Stores are filled with healthy and smiling shoppers, and there are shoppers loaded down with bags filled with goodies anywhere you look. Of course, the other holiday experience is the parking lot crunch when finding a parking spot during the holiday season is not for the faint of heart. These exterior experiences are only a piece of the magic and memories of Christmas.

Parents inherently want their children to succeed. They stress the importance of “excellence” for their child. As a baby, they may start teaching their child baby sign language to boaster their cognitive ability. They can be eager to sign up their three-year-old up for ballet or, in this case, for wrestling. Yes, as a parent, I am guilty of arranging for art classes, gymnastics, swimming, and more, all before the age of four. As parents, we fear not having that jump-start will forever put them behind in academia, the arts, or sports. However, as a prospective grandparent, I have a different viewpoint.

If you didn't raise your hand, I would share that once you get the "grandparent" moniker, you will be relegated to the "old" category. Yes, I know that it may be far from the truth, but as they say, perception is reality. A check of Merriam-Webster Dictionary tells us that "The definition of old is advanced in age or having been around for a while.”

What can you learn from Grandma’s wringer washing machine?

If there's one household appliance most of us could not do without, it's the washing machine. We all need to use them. Most of us use it at least once a week. We may have to drive to a laundromat, go down to the basement, or down the hall to complete the function of washing. We gather our dirty items and carry them judiciously to our laundry area, load the machine and entertain ourselves for 45 minutes before we move our items to the dryer. But the dryer will be a story for another day.

CRAYON: A stick of colored wax used for drawing on paper. 

We are not a stick of wax, but not unlike a broken Crayon; people can be viewed or can view themselves as broken. In a way, we are all crayons, some with our wrappers peeled and others damaged from the impact of life in the crayon box. At times we may get broken, but we must never forget we all choose to continue to color the most vibrant of pictures essential to our quality of life. We all can color the world more beautiful than a rainbow.

News alert!

I was not a perfect parent! And guess what? There is no such thing as a perfect grandparent either!

I know, I know, that's shocking, but if we are going to take our role as intentional grandparents seriously, then we also must be confident and courageous enough to take our blinders off. Now, if you are like me, it has been a few years since we were actively parenting, and our memory is probably a little vague. At least mine is.