Because Diane and I share two sets of grandchildren, we are continually looking for meaningful ways to engage them, spotlight their emerging talents, and foster hard work and self-reliance.
Rachel is one of these grandchildren. She is an aspiring tennis player, donut maker, dancer, and entrepreneur. She loves to make money and is becoming a very savvy, social-media marketing specialist.
When Diane was thinking about purchasing gifts for dear friends in her quilting and book clubs, she had this brilliant idea. I will have my granddaughter, Rachel, make each of my friends their own bar of handcrafted, shea-butter soap. She approached Rachel about this money-making opportunity, and she immediately signed on.
Rachel went right to work and to create the special-order soap bars. On the appointed day, she delivered her aromatic masterpieces.
Diane was, of course, thrilled with Rachel’s labors and creativity. She paid Rachel the agreed-upon sum for the soap bars, but that was not all!
Grandma Diane wanted to add to the magic of this entire entrepreneurial endeavor by doing something straightforward. You can and could do this too.
Diane added a unique punch to the packaging process in packing the soap for delivery to her friends—a distinctive kind of grandchild-centered branding. She created a unique label for the soap—acknowledging its creator.
My guess is this. Rachel loved being featured with each carefully wrapped gift of shea-butter soap.
You, too, can deepen your relationships with grandchildren by giving them opportunities to showcase their skills, be creative, learn how to work, and earn money. It is incredible how a little thoughtfulness can make simple activities so much more potent in blessing the lives of our grandchildren.
We welcome your ideas! Let us hear from you. We would love to feature your grandparenting work in one of our upcoming blogs.