I admit to feeling a lot of envy toward people who live in the same location as their parents. I’d love for my kids to see their grandparents more often, but I count my blessings that the times they do have are fun and filled with tons of love. Being only a few hours away, we never have to go more than a month or two even during the busiest times of year – thank goodness. Whether children see their grandparents once a day or once a year, everyone wants those times to be memorable and positive.

The new book Super Granny: Great Stuff To Do With Your Grandkids (Sterling, March 2009), author and grandmother Sally Wendkos Olds presents a treasure trove of activities and ideas that help grandmothers connect and communicate with any grandchild. (Sorry Gramps, maybe your book is coming?) The book is a compilation of stories from real-life grandparents about what they do with their grandchildren to create memories on ordinary and extraordinary days. While there is the requisite chapter on knitting, it’s overshadowed by chapters on skiing, email and so many more ways to create those special connections with the generation once removed.

If you’re a grandmother, whether you’re babysitting to give parents a break, texting the grandkids from hundreds of miles away, or keeping them for a week at a time, this book has an idea or two for you. From infancy to adolescence, with something for the most computer-savvy granny and kid and also some more traditional projects, Super Granny has it all, and many of the ideas are free or practically free. It’s perfect for this economy!

I love the way the book compares grandmothering to mothering. According to Sally, grandmothers can concentrate on a child on child in an almost Zen way that mothers cannot. I’m pretty sure that’s because they know they’re giving them back before the witching hour hits.

Win it! We’ve got a copy to give away to one reader who comments before noon mst on July 6, 2009.

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