While Dad's Mother's Day gift may come from a jewelry store, Dad also needs to remember to pick up those special Mother's Day gifts from the kids.

Over the next month or so, I will be making some suggestions for the perfect Mother's Day gifts. Personalization is free so you can have what ever gift you choose personalized with the name of of the child it is from.

Have a great time shopping,

Grandma Helen

Kidoodles by Kim carries Personalized Kids Gifts and Personalized Baby Gifts for all your family’s gifts giving occasions.

You know I love all holidays, but Valentine's Day is a really fun one. It is such a girly day, and well being a girl I always thought it was just for me.

One year, when my daughters were in their teens, I did a Valentine's dinner. My daughters were allowed to bring a guest. My step-daughter's "guest" was her 6 month old baby daughter. She had dressed her up a cute as a doll for the occasion. But half way through dinner, was baby's bed time so my step-daughter was finally able to eat her dinner. 

After dinner, as we were sitting around the table, our cat jumped into my step-daughter's lap. Without even thinking about it, she put the cat to her shoulder and began rocking it and patting its back. She was so accustomed to burping her baby, she was trying to burp the cat!

We all got a great laugh out of that!

Having some fun,

Grandma Helen

This year for Christmas I recieved a most wonderful gift from my sister.

She donated in my name to a wonderful local organization called SisterCare. This is a group located here in South Carolina that provides services for battered women and their children.

In this time of giving, consider supporting a local charity to care for the children in your community. I have provided a link to SisterCare should you choose to support them.

Having some fun,

Grandma Helen,

 Kidoodles by Kim carries Personalized Kids Gifts and Personalized Baby Gifts for all your family’s gifts giving occasions. 

When buying a Christmas Gift for a baby, you of course know that the baby has no clue as to what is going on. I remember my daughter's first Christmas. I worked hard shopping for the perfect stuffed animal. The right color to be stimulating, the right softness, the right fiber and well the right price. On Christmas morning I was so excited. I got her all dresses up which of course she found quite irritating. But pictures are everything when it comes to momentous events like baby's First Christmas!

We sat our 6 month old down, amidst pillows and packages and waited for the grand ripping of paper and squeals of delight. Clearly my brilliant infant had no clue as to what was expected of her and began to cry being overwhelmed by the obstacles between her and me. I immediately left the picture taking to Dad and ran to hold her and give her a lesson in opening packages.

Now, when I was a child we were strongly encouraged to carefully unwrap each item, so the paper could be reused next Christmas. Being a child, this was very frustrating. I wanted what was inside the package and would have been just as happy if my gifts had all come in brown paper bags. I also think my relations knew of this torture and used a whole roll of tape which had to carefully removed to not distroy the paper. Perhaps this only served to highten the anticipation because I also recall finding among the gifts beautiful dolls and doll dresses.

I swore, my daughter would not suffer the same torture, and so the ripping began. I helped her rip the paper from boxes. I helped her rip open soft packages. Saving my own for last, I was not concerned by her lack of interest in the gifts and the growing pleasure in ripping. By the time my gift was placed in front of her, she was really into ripping. To her delight it was brilliant red paper. As her little hand pulled at the paper, she gathered it to her and squealed in delight. I opened the box and presented her with the grand stuffed doll I had chosen for her.  I got no reaction from her at all. 

Slightly disappointed, I put aside the gifts and gave her free reign with all the paper. She ripped it, she crunched it, she tossed it, she would have eaten it had I not caught those moves as they started. Later in the day she moved on to the delight in boxes as well, but it was several days before she showed any interest in the grand stuffed doll I got for her.

So, in the matter of buying for babies, worry less about the content of the gift and concentrate on the wrapping. Crinkly shiney paper, stick on bows, brightly colored ribbons all make the perfect gift for a 6 month old. The content should be chosen for Mom and Dad, or perhaps with the future in mind.  Money banks make a perfect gift for the future.

One of the best choices is the plain white talking pig. With lots of room to decorate, you can have Kim personalize with a full name and birthdate. Kim can then decorate to rest of the pig with stars for boys or flowers for girls. The best thing is that the pig says "thank you" each time a coin is dropped in the slot. This gift will be loved and appreciated as your child grows and begins to value the coins that grandma and grandpa drop in. 

 Having some fun,

Grandma Helen

 Kidoodles by Kim carries Personalized Kids Gifts and Personalized Baby Gifts for all your family’s gifts giving occasions.

What a Thanksgiving Day I had.  I spent the day with my closest friend and her family. Her grandchildren were there with their dad and grandma. So, we had quite the crowd and a 4 year old and 3 year old twins kept every one busy. Busy tho' it was, I was grateful for friends and family.

Holidays are exciting events that stay in children's minds for years. I can remember holiday gatherings from my own childhood with perfect clarity. So when planning these events, remember they are a time to be happy. Save airing family disputes for other occasions. Plan games and activities for the children so they are occupied while waiting for dinner. Allow them 'kid appropriate' appetizers and don't overload their dinner plates. They wont be able to eat it all and you'll be forced to put on a good face as you scrape most of their meal in the trash. This is not the day to demand a clean plate before dessert.

This year the 4 year old granddaughter brought a pie made for a merit badge! It was simple and delicious and gave her so much pride to see everyone raving about it. So this is also a good time to let the younger ones help out with side dishes and desserts. They feel involved and such pride in their accomplishments.

The highlight of the day was when Grandma broke all assumed rules and squirted whipped cream on her grandchildren's  little hands. They were so delighted and shocked (let me assure you, I got photos of that moment)!

Give your children and grandchildren the gift of a great memory, and enjoy yourselves.

Having some fun,

Grandma Helen

Kidoodles by Kim carries Personalized Kids Gifts and Personalized Baby Gifts for all your family’s gifts giving occasions.

I you recall, Kim went to the SAG Awards last spring and was invited to show her products at the gifting suite. We finally have most of the photos online for you to view. (well, ok, only 1/2 of them)

Our problem is, not being TV/Movie fans, we don't recognize lots of the faces. So, we created a Squidoo page where you can view the photos and try and guess who the celebs are.

http://www.squidoo.com/namethiscelebrity

Have some fun with it. Some are easy and some are really hard! The celebs are from TV, Movies, Music and Sports so pass the site on to your friends and keep comming back as I will be adding more photos as I have time.

Having some fun,

Grandma Helen

Kidoodles by Kim carries Personalized Kids Gifts and Personalized Baby Gifts for all your family’s gifts giving occasions.