Donna’s Day: Video Chat to Play with Grandkids Junior Whirl

KIDS &FAMILY

Donna’s Day: Creative Family Fun Use Video Chat to Keep in Touch with the Grandkids

By Donna Erickson

Signal Contributing Writer “It was a dark and stormy night” could have been an apt beginning to an exciting tale told by Nancy Liddy to her two grandsons in Madison, Wisconsin, via Skype recently.

“A summer thunderstorm and resulting power outage left us with just a blur on the screen when we tried to connect for our weekly storytime,” she said. “We quickly rescheduled. Neither the boys nor I want to miss the ritual, rain or shine.”

Nancy plans ahead with a visit to her neighborhood library to check out three age-appropriate books that four-year-old Dominic and two-yearold Gabriel will enjoy. “I try to find a title that’s silly or funny, such as Chris Monroe’s “Monkey with a Tool Belt” series.

Humor always grabs their attention and gets us in the storytime mode. I also go for a classic I may have read to my own kids when they were young. ‘The Story of Ferdinand’ by Munro Leaf is a favorite. The third book

Nancy Liddy reads to her two grandsons via video chat. is based on a topic that the boys are currently interested in, such as trucks and trains, wild animals or sea life.” It’s not only a pleasure to share good reads with the boys, but video-chatting also nurtures her long-distance relationship with them.

“Whether it’s one of the stories I read, or things they show and tell, we always have something in common to talk about when we see each other in person,” she said.

Here are tips for video-chatting with younger children: • Put a chat time on the calendar.

Schedule it for when the kids are rested and fed, and try to make the

“date” on a regular day and time. • Look into the camera as often as possible. Eye contact helps kids stay engaged in conversations and interactions. • Collect props. Books and items of interest promote curiosity and conversation. Encourage the kids to share their stuffed animals and items of interest, too. • Create a special way of saying goodbye, such as blowing kisses. Extra idea Sunday, Sept. 11 is Grandparents’ Day. Send a card, video-chat your grandparents or invite nearby grandparents over for a fun get-together.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit www.donnasday.com and link to the Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.”  © 2022 Donna Erickson

Distributed by King Features Synd.

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AUGUST 28, 2022 CROSSWORD TIME PUZZLES

SOLUTIONS

Opinion Unless otherwise stated, the views and opinions expressed are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Signal.

READER LETTERS

The Destruction of California, U.S.

Oh my God! Gas prices going down? So many of you so excited about that? Say what?

Of course they are going to go down, probably quite a bit, until after the November election results come in.

If the “conservative” Republicans win, they will, more than likely, keep going down and down. If the “far left” Democrats (who should not be using the name “Democrat,” in my opinion) win, your gas prices will skyrocket to much higher than they were in June 2022. (Of course, I hope I am wrong.)

Water regulations forced on us? What happened to all of Newsom’s promises and the billions of dollars that went toward water preservation? All of us should be insisting on this being answered. Now!

Electricity and oil? Yup. Let’s make sure that “everyone” switches to electric vehicles. Sure. Would be soooo great for our state and country.

Correct me if I am wrong. Isn’t our electric grid overwhelmed right now? Or is that another preplanned lie that has been forced upon us?

Hmm, the United States has the cleanest oil in the world. And, we have more than anyone. But, we close down our pipelines and beg other countries for gas that does not even compare to the cleanness of our own? All in the name of “climate change”? Our climate has not been changing any more than it has always changed back and forth.

Check it out for yourselves!

I feel so sad for the very wonderful young men and women who are dedicating their lives to “The Green New Deal.” What a complete sham. Soros, Gates, Zuckerberg, the Obamas, Clintons, Bushes, Newsoms, Pelosis, Schumers, the Squad and all spreading this crap to innocent folks. So many, that a lot of us have trusted, turning on America BIG time.

Newsom and all of his cronies have, almost, completed their demise of California being the “place to live and bring up your family.” Just look at their voting records. They are totally responsible for California’s skyrocketed crime rate, drugs flowing into our state, illegals creating disastrous homeless situations, taxes on those who actually WORK going through the roof, Critical Race Theory’s continuing invasion of our government-run schools at all levels, God being removed from you name it, city councils and school boards being run by many (not all) who hate the freedoms that the United States was founded on…. Oh, so much more.

Santa Clarita, our beautiful city, wanting to build more and more (at least our illustrious City Council seems to think it a GREAT idea, right along with all but one running for their positions). You MUST be kidding me!

And, now, Gavin Newsom has the complete audacity to think he would complete his lifelong dream of destroying the United States of America by seeking to become the next president. Yup! The rest of the country really wants to be “just like California”! That is why so many are leaving California as quickly as they can.

Will someone, when they argue with me, please tell me anything that is not taxed in California?

Of course, these are just my opinions. Though I believe that a great and growing number of folks believe as I do.

Diane Zimmerman Santa Clarita

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ETHICALLY SPEAKING

Defining ‘Successful’

Ioften attend conferences where the attendees are given name tags that boldly announce who they are. This creates a phenomenon rarely seen elsewhere. As we walk the halls of the conference center or hotel, our eyes are fixed on the name tags of those we pass. We’re anxious to see if they are “somebody.” Is he a well-known speaker? Is she an author we’ve read? Are they part of an important faculty or church or company? We zero in on their name tag to find out. But, as soon as we realize they are just commoners, unknowns, and not so special, we initiate the instinctive neck twist and look away, scanning the horizon for the next chance to spot a celebrity.

As you might guess, at conferences no one ever looks me in the eye, and more likely, they are staring right past me after reading my name. I am used to it by now, but it does make me wonder about what qualifies as success today.

What makes for success? Certainly, for many it is notoriety. You are successful if you’ve made a name for yourself that is recognized broadly. It usually means you’ve written something that has sold well, discovered something that has been widely used, made a lot of money or come up with an idea that everyone wants to hear. I suppose there are other ways to become famous, but the real question is whether fame really should equal success.

A few days ago my wife asked, quite out of the blue, “Why are the Kardashians famous?” And, like the rest of civilization, I had no cogent answer. There is no reason they should be on every magazine cover except that they’ve been on previous covers and millions of people are curious about their every move, even though you’ll not find many who admit it. They are poster children for an ominous trend that is overtaking our society. Success is being recalibrated in our day. Where character, hard work, utility and societal benefit used to be the standard criteria for measuring success in life, today we are increasingly ready to coronate as cultural kings and queens those who may be outrageous, arrogant, irreverent, and downright evil, as long as they are beautiful, rich, interesting or any combination thereof. But this raises two serious problems. First, given the vast majority of us are not beautiful, rich or very interesting, the result will be only a few will ever be seen as successful. Second, if success becomes equated with beauty, riches, or flamboyance, we will be sacrificing the grand foundation of our culture, which has always measured success in such a way that fame and wealth don’t automatically factor in.

Let me suggest that success is simply faithfulness in all walks of life. A man who is faithful to his wife, raises emotionally and spiritually healthy children, does his work heartily and with integrity, and loves his neighbor must be seen as successful in everyone’s book, despite the fact that few will ever recognize his merit. A woman who sticks to her word, is honest and caring in all her relationships, and brings value to her family and friends is a success despite the fact that she never wrote a book or reached six figures.

Of course, being wealthy, or famous, or interesting doesn’t disqualify anyone from my definition of success. But none of those actually measure what is most important in life. Success is faithfulness, and while some may find their faithfulness rewarded with income and opportunities for public acclaim, we must appreciate their character and conduct first and foremost.

The successful life is the ethical life, lived in alignment with core values such as integrity, courage, honesty, humility and love. Without these no amount of popularity or material gain can make a life truly successful, no matter how many people recognize you as “somebody” at the next conference.

Local resident David Hegg is senior pastor of Grace Baptist Church. “Ethically

Speaking” appears Sundays. 