Celebrating “Yester-Times”    November 23, 2017

Connecting means bonding! Connecting with young children is challenging, as most young kids are so active, it’s hard to find something you can do together that’s memorable, even when you are with them. To establish a connection, first you need to interact in meaningful experiences together. This is important! If two individuals (an adult and a child, or even two adults) don’t experience meaningful activity together, it’s difficult to connect on a personal level.

When distance and time separates everyone, it’s hard to build and maintain a connection. If you can connect from common experiences you interacted in together, it’s easier to establish a bond that lasts a long time! Many grandparents have participated in everyday activities with grandchildren such as going to the grocery store, making breakfast together, blowing bubbles, or visiting the zoo. Once these activities are over and grandma or grandpa leave, young children quickly move on to the next thing, and forget about special times they’ve experienced with their grandparent. How can memories be created that last and let kids remember who they experienced them with?

When distance and time separates everyone, it’s hard to build and maintain a connection.

There’s no question that reading to young children is a great way to engage with them. It’s also a perfect way to establish a strong connection, even when you’re a long-distance relative. Several years ago, we had a somewhat different take on this idea when we created the Sticking With Family® book series – we wanted to connect with our grandson to make memories that would last a long time.

The word “Yester-Times” was actually invented by our grandson, Beckett. It happened following a holiday visit when we were preparing to leave Beckett’s home. As Beckett viewed photos of past visits from several months earlier, he lit up and became extremely excited. Trying to find the right words, he said… “Grammy, just remember the “Yester-Times.” It was his way of telling us he remembered past visits and had great memories of activities we’d participated in together!

We are Rick and Angela Blesi, and are long-distance grandparents ourselves. During the long drive home following this visit, we wondered how our two-and-a-half-year-old grandchild would remember his grandparents, as he only saw us four or five times a year. Kids are so busy and active that we believed Beckett probably would just go to the next ….

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Celebrating “Yester-Times”