Author: HairWeavings Editorial Team

When I was growing up, I played a game with family friends’ kids called “Sign of the Little People.” We’d rearrange items in a room or place an unusual food item on the table, then erupt into laughter as we chanted, “Sign of the Little People!” Silly? Maybe. Fun? Absolutely – especially for us kids.

Now that I’m a grandparent of seven, living almost a country apart from my grandchildren, I miss the days of sharing silly games and spontaneous moments. While technology like FaceTime and Google Duo makes staying connected easier, I’m still a fan of the old-fashioned charm of snail mail and surprise packages.

So, here are five creative ways to bridge the distance and nurture your bond with your grandchildren, no matter their age or personality.

1. Future Author Box (Perfect for Elementary Schoolers)

Send your budding storyteller a “Future Author” kit. Include basic writing books, a journal, colorful pens, a binder with dividers, greeting card fronts (from a Dollar Tree haul), and glue sticks. Encourage them to create their own storybook, complete with illustrations. Ask them to share pictures of their masterpiece; you’ll both treasure the creative exchange.

2. Do for Others Theme (Great for Elementary-Aged Kids)

Teach kindness through creativity. Send simple snack recipes, colorful tissue paper, and bows. Encourage your grandchildren to prepare the snacks, write a short note, and surprise an elderly, single neighbor, or someone at church. This activity combines fun with a heartwarming lesson in generosity.

3. When Sickness Strikes (Works for Any Age)

Comfort your little one with a care package designed for sick days. Include soothing teas like chamomile, soup packets, kid-friendly medicine, a favorite book or DVD, and a cozy blanket or pillow. Send it quickly – before they’re feeling better – to show them you’re thinking of them even from afar.

4. Travel Buff Package

Spark your grandchild’s curiosity about the world. Gather travel brochures, postcards, and posters from different countries (or even states). Add a travel-themed book and postcards from exotic places. You can find some interesting ones on Etsy, eBay, or your local antique store. It’s a perfect way to inspire dreams of adventure and exploration.

5. Storytime with Grandma (Ideal for Toddlers and Young Children)

My son and his wife have a 16-month-old son, and one way I’ve been able to stay connected is through recording Zooms of myself reading books to him. I still have many Little Golden Books from my own childhood; the same ones I read to my son and his sister during their growing up years. Now, three generation later, I’m reading those same books to my grandson. Pretty cool.

Bonus: Restaurant Memories (For Older Kids and Teens)

Turn dining experiences into a fun project. Gift your older grandchildren with a 1” binder with plastic card holders and 3×5 cards. Encourage them to collect cards from restaurants they visit, jotting notes about their meal, the atmosphere, and even the quirks of their server. Who knows? You might nurture the next famous food critic!

These ideas are just the beginning. Tailor each package to your grandchild’s unique interests and personality. The effort you put into these thoughtful gestures will not only keep you connected but also create cherished memories and a sense of closeness that transcends distance.

So, what are you waiting for? Start planning your first package and watch your relationships flourish. Happy connecting!

For more ideas read 5 Creative Ways to Stay in Touch with Your Grandchildren.

Points of Connection:

How do you connect with your grandchildren? Do you have any special ways to stay in touch? What are some favorite activities with small children? How about teenagers?

Plus, catch Tiana’s Bayou Adventure for the very first time.

They are quite the power couple.

We are absolutely floored.

Sure, we all know we’re supposed to keep investing even if we’re using our retirement funds, but how can we invest in accordance with our values, support our communities while still increasing the likelihood of getting a return on our money?

Let’s Talk About It!

In 2023, Fidelity found that women are opening brokerage and retirement accounts much earlier than before, which makes sense. We’re living longer than ever, but there are other factors at play here, too.

We typically work fewer years and live longer than men, meaning more non-earning years. But we’re also increasingly single, which means we don’t have a partner’s income, pension, or retirement investments to support us. But investing like your father did may not be accessible now, and some kinds of investing might not even align with your values.

So how do I talk with my financial coaching clients about novel and ethical ways to invest? We’ll talk about a few of my favorites, but first let’s define two terms.

What Is a Stock?

When you own a stock (or even a tiny portion of one as in a mutual fund) you own part of a business, which means you own part of the risk of that business. That risk means you may lose your initial investment, but the potential (not guaranteed) return may be higher than the other alternative, a bond.

What Is a Bond?

When you own a bond, you own a debt. Someone (or some entity like a business or government) will need to pay you back. Bonds are typically safer (although no investment is without risk), but their returns are typically lower.

New Ways Women Can Invest

Outside of your vanilla 401(k)s, IRAs and mutual funds, these are my three favorite ways I’ve seen women investing!

Small-to-Micro Investing

I love small-to-micro investing like SMBX and others. These platforms (if reputable) grow emerging economies, support small businesses, and provide a modest (but not guaranteed) return.

Check out this winery in Santa Barbara, for example.

SMBX is a bond marketplace, which means your investment is likely pretty safe, but I recommend still doing a little due diligence if you choose to invest in a business through one of these sites.

Community Investing

Do you love your local indie coffee shop, yoga studio or book store? Is that favorite local spot needing to expand or otherwise grow? There are multiple ways you can invest in your community.

You can invest as a part owner with some level of control over the business as well as assuming some level of risk. Also, you can also invest by loaning money to this community business. You wouldn’t have any control over the business, but typically returns are less risky if you own a debt.

Either way, you and the business owner should both have attorneys to make sure you’re protected.

Your Own Business

This is risky, yes. But if you have a purpose or calling in life, building a business is probably the biggest investment you can make. This may require some level of time AND monetary investment, as well as investments in your own knowledge and experience.

How Can Women Investors Discern If These Investments Are Within Their Risk Profile?

I recommend taking some time to run through a formula called Expected Value (EV). EV does a good job of approximating what you might expect as a return, and can be “tuned” to your risk tolerance (or how likely you think a project is to succeed).

This formula gets better as you input better-informed data.

This is a garbage-in garbage-out kind of thing, but can be useful. I would not recommend using only EV to make investment choices, though, just an element of your decision-making process.

If you’d like to do a deep dive into Expected Value, start here.

But here is a very, very, VERY simplistic example of Expected Value just to get you started.

Expected Value is the value of a variable multiplied by the probability of that variable occurring.

Let’s say I’m considering opening a virtual assistant company. I do a little back-o-the-napkin number crunching and come up with rough numbers that show this company potentially could be worth 1 million dollars. That’s the variable. And let’s say I estimate the probability that this will be a company valued at 1 million dollars is 10%.

$1,000,000 X .10= $100,000

If my investment of time and money is less than $100,000 this may be a good investment/bet.

If I do a little market research, and find that the probability is higher or lower, or the potential value of the company is higher or lower, that new information changes the calculus.

Again, the more information you have, the better the Expected Value formula works.

Ready to Get Started?

Start small. Like microscopically small. Try out micro-investing to test your risk tolerance. The other thing I’d recommend is to only start investing outside a 401k or Roth if you have an adaptive, personalized budgeting/spending system in place.

Without that underlying foundation, it may be difficult to “see into the future,” and to know if your money might be best used somewhere else besides investments (targeted savings, paying off debt, or even increasing lifestyle or experiences). It’s important to balance the future-focused seduction of investments with your life right now.

Let’s Start a Conversation:

Have you started investing? What is your risk tolerance? Based on that, what kind of investing have you done?