This is your first Christmas as the proud Grandparent. There is no greater joy than that of greeting a new baby, except perhaps that joy of greeting a new grandbaby. Grandparenthood is a special club that encourages reckless spoiling of those beloved creatures. There was no true maxim than that of: many a child is spoiled because you can’t spank Grandma.

If this year is your first year celebrating Christmas as a grandparent, congratulations! Not since the magical days spent with your own children will the Holidays seem so full. There are however a few pitfalls that new grandparents are susceptible to. For a joyous celebration that won’t create ill will here are a few tips to follow.

Holiday Gift Giving

This is the season of giving, and it is so much fun to give gifts to a toddler or baby. Baby clothes are so much fun to pick out and wrap. Toys are much more exciting to purchase and watch being unwrapped than the offerings for adults. It is easy to go overboard.

Remember, gifts are often expected at Christmas time, and they are very appreciated but an over abundance of gifts rivaling the collection of Ritchie Rich is not likely to engender the appreciation of the new parents. Try to set a limit for yourself. Your grandbaby does not need every single toy or pair of shoes you lay eyes on.

If you are not sure what the limit should be have an honest conversation with your grandbaby’s parents. When everyone is on the same page from the beginning there is much less chance of hurting feelings or over stepping some unknown boundary.

Special Gifts

When it comes to specific gifts some are just off limits to grandparents. This means that perhaps your daughter-in-law feels it a parental right to purchase her baby girl that all important first doll. Perhaps it is the unknown wish of your child to present his or her own baby with a keepsake quilt.

The problem with these special gifts is not so much the desire to be the one to give it to the baby, but the symbolism behind it. The flip side of the special gift scenario is that of contraband gifts. Perhaps guns or overly frivolous Barbies have been placed on the no-no list by the baby’s parent. As the grandparent you may have no idea what these special or contraband gifts might be.

Again it is time to discuss gift options with your grandbaby’s parents. No grandparent wants to become the stereotypical ‘in-law’. Keeping communication lines open will ensure that Christmas is a time of fun giving and spoiling that leaves everyone with feelings of love and respect.

Mexican Train Dominos are a fun family game we have started playing. Our rules though are somewhat different than the games sheet we got with the game.

The dominoes rules we learned work better for our family because it allows the little ones to play Mexican Train.

Start with actual Mexican Train dominoes that go up to double 12’s. You can buy them either with dots or numbers. If counting dots is hard for someone, numbers may be easier to add at the end of the round - you can even teach them how to use a calculator. Play begins with each person selecting a preset number of tiles based on number of players. The person who has the double 12 (or next closest) starts. Next round starts with the next lower double. Going to his left, the next person starts his leg (think octopus) with the same number as the double. If he doesn’t have it, he picks from the pile and can play if it fits. Play continues around with each person playing on their leg only unless 2 other things occur.

1st - If someone, who has their leg going, cannot play a domino on their leg after they pick from the bone pile, you can play on their leg. They place a plastic train (that comes with most domino sets) on their leg so everyone knows it is open to play on. As an added treat - we use M&M’s instead of train. Then when the person whose leg is open can play on it again, they can chose to remove the train (or eat the M&M!) to close it off from other players.

2nd - You can start a Mexican train. You do this by using a tile that has the same number as the doubles you started with and starting a leg separate from the main game. Only one person can start a train per round but anyone can play on it at anytime.

A couple of side notes - playing a doubles tile requires a “proof” meaning you must also play another tile on it in that turn. You don’t have to pick if you can’t play but the next person to play must either play on the double or pick to try to. No one can resume play until the double has been proven. This requirement can thwart your prelaid plans. And don’t get discouraged if you get stuck drawing tiles well into the game to get started. Because you have the potential to play up to 12 rounds (your choice), it seems most people will get the same chance.

To win the round, be the first to play all your tiles. Everyone adds up the total number or dots on their remaining tiles. The total is their score on that round. The winner of the game is the person who has the lowest total after all rounds are completed.

So now you know our rules for Mexican Train dominoes. We love this fun and easy to follow dominos rules game and can see giving it to our friends as a great family Christmas gift!

When I was growing up, one of my most favorite things was family game night. We would all sit down around our kitchen table, fill up our ice cream float cups and play a mean game of Hearts.

Even back then, when life wasn’t near as hectic as it is now, it seemed to draw us back together as a family. So of course, as we started raising our children, my husband and I decided we wanted to have this special family time too.

Good intentions however were only the beginning. We soon found that with a 7 yr age span in our clan, finding a game that all could play (and understand!) was quite a challenge.

The Survey Says - The Solutions

Of course, I do have a couple of suggestions!! We discovered a very fun game last year called Mexican Train dominos. Easy to learn, fun to play and several people can play - good for a family of 7 and always a few strangling friends around. The dominos rules for Mexican Train we learned are different than the ones that came in the game (look at our website for how we play), but it worked best for our group.

Along with our Mexican Train dominos game, we found Apples to Apples. This game too can be played by all of us at the same time and we liked that it came in a junior version that was still fun for the older kids.

Blokus is a great colored tile game that is easy for everyone to play. The cool thing about this game is that no matter your age it really works to exercise your critical thinking skills. It is fun to watch how smart your kiddos really are!

Mexican Train dominoes, Apples to Apples and Blokus are all must haves for those fun family nights! What great Christmas gift ideas for your family! Look for more laughing and talking to be a result of these family games.

[I:http://exporubens.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/LJJames0.jpg] I’m sure most of you from Long Island NY go to the Who Cares Committee Toy Run every year and have been going for many years as it is a Long Island Biker tradition! Some of you may or may not know over a few years back Bob Whelehan (a good friend of mine) who was the President of the Committee passed away due to complications caused by his Diabetes, leaving his Wife and Kids with many bills to take care of. His Wife Liz known as Mom to many because of how giving she has always been took over as President of the Committee and running the Toy Run to make sure the Children of the St. Chris-Ottille Residential Treatment Center in Sea Cliff Still received their Presents every year.Even with her own bills piling up due to the loss of her Husbands income!!!

Well as if things where not bad enough for Liz and her Family while she was walking home from the Super Market a car ran a red light and hit Liz while she was walking across the street in the cross walk putting her out of work an into a Wheel Chair! Being the strong women she is, she has fought back and can now walk around a little with the use of a cane. Liz is living on $600 a month until she can get well enough to get back to work. She can not pay all of her rent or bills!

Now With a story like that you may believe Liz would have been looking for some one to help her out, and why not? After all she has done for the Children of people of Long Island over the years! But no that is not what she was looking for. She was looking for help Running the Toy Run for the kids of St.Chris-Ottille. The Who Cares Committee being in Disarray because of all the tragedy that had befallen it had lost its AMA Charter and needed help Getting the Toy Run Sanctioned and Insured and of course they needed some able body Bikers to help work the sign up at the Sears Parking lot in Hicksville!

Well when the bikers of Long island heard about this they came out in force to help out! Members of L.I.M.A (The Long Island Motorcycle Association)a Club of AMA Clubs got the Run Sanctioned and insured and Bikers from all walks of the Biker world came down to help out! Members of the Mortal Skulls MC who own an Entertainment Company Donated their time to D.J. the Run and announce the Raffles at the party at the VFW Hall, 320 South Broadway, Hicksville. Once again Members of L.I.M.A. helped out, This time with cooking and serving the food. As anyone who has been to this event knows the food is always incredible.

So often we here the cry as Bikers to help one of our own and we always do!!! This time the Cry was to help one of our own Continue to help others and again on a cold December day We where there!!! The Long Island Biker Community over the past few years has really come together, The differences and prejudices of the past seem to really be melting away!!! If you would like to become a Member of the Who Cares Committee or just help out at next years Toy Run go to angelfire.com/ny2/whocarescommittee

I’ll see you There!!! Your Bro L.J. James AmericanBikerX.com Radio Show BikerLowdown.com

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