by Marlene Bumgarner | Feb 2, 2019 | Aging, Child development, Community, Family, Grandparenting, Nature, Travel
Sleepover With Grandma Like many other publicly-funded agencies, the Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a variety of programs to educate their members and to raise funds. One of the most popular is the sleepover, when children and their parents or chaperones are invited to...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Nov 21, 2018 | Aging, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family
Thanksgiving is the Great American Holiday. Even more than at Christmas, family members travel thousands of miles to sit around a lavishly prepared table and eat some variation on the meal that the Puritans and the Wampanoag Indians cooked during their three day...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Oct 28, 2018 | Aging, Child development, Community, Family, Grandparenting
Pumpkins Are the Key My oldest granddaughter, the one I’ve been calling Bean all these years, is now a string bean. She’s seven and a half and tall and active, both in her body and in her mind. Several of her favorite things to do at Halloween happen...
by Marlene Bumgarner | May 25, 2018 | Aging, Community, Family, Grandparenting, Health
Note: The following essay was published May 6 as a guest post on Sixty+Me. I hope you enjoy it. What is Time? “When will Mommy come, Grandma?” my granddaughter used to ask several times a day when she was little. At first I assumed she missed her mother. I’m sure...
by Marlene Bumgarner | May 11, 2018 | Community, Family, Grandparenting
Hallmark Holiday? I’ve been thinking a lot about mothers this week. I know that not everyone likes the idea of special days for different categories of people. Some people think our annual recognition of mothers is nothing but an overly-commercial “Hallmark Holiday.”...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Jan 29, 2018 | Aging, Australia, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Nature, Travel, Writing
Victoria The Greenhouse Backpacker’s Hostel is in a high rise building in the center of Melbourne. My first challenge, tired as I was, was hoisting my roller bag up ten steps to the elevator. A sign on the door told me that Reception was on the 6th floor. When...