Works For Me: Grandkids' Room

No, I'm not a grandparent--not yet.  (Though if the bizarre popping noise my knees make when I climb my stairs is any indication, an invitation from AARP should be arriving any day.)

I've mentioned that my parents have recently moved to our city.  It has been absolutely delightful, and my children have eagerly set up shop at their House of Endless Chewing Gum.  And my parents, knowing that there would be a steady stream of Dryer kids funneling through, had the good sense to turn one of their bedrooms into a "grandkids room".  It's still a bedroom, but it contains my old dollhouse and my brothers' old Star Wars toys, with a few new things thrown in.

But the most brilliant thing about it is an idea my mom implemented.  She actually told me I had to share this with all of you because she says "it's the only good idea" she's ever come up with.  Which doesn't say a whole lot about what she thought of giving birth to me, but as long as she continues to provide free babysitting, I can get over it.

Anyhoo, my parents' six grandkids are regularly coming to their house and leaving a trail of drawings, and there's only so much one refrigerator door can hold, even a grandmother's.  So my mom bought six bulletin boards, one for each grandchild, and she painted the frames bright red.  Then for each grandchild she bought one of those unfinished wood initals you can buy at any craft store.  (Thankfully, each grandchild has a different first initial, which makes it easy.) 

She painted each intial and has attached it to its own bulletin board, and all six of them line the walls.  Now when grandkids come over and draw another "treasure", there's a place to put them.  And the kids are all thrilled that their creations are being used to decorate the room.  (I know it would really work for you if I'd include a picture, but that would've required forethought and planning, and I'm all out of that these days.  Sorry!) 

If you have a fun idea you'd like to share with Bloggityville, leave your link below.  WFMW guidelines can be found here.  Remember, link directly to your WFMW post, not to the front page of your blog.

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Comments

[An Ordinary Mom]

Just post a picture next week :) !!

[Kelly @ PTT]

I know EXACTLY the popping noise you're talking about. My husband says I need a lube job.

[ellen b]

What a great idea.! Hats off to one smart grandmother...

[Mandy Houk]

Oh, I love that idea. My two girls are the only young grandkids on either side, so that would be a pretty easy thing to implement. Yay!

[Beth @ The Natural Mommy]

Sorry for the double linkage - blame the fact that I'm one-handed due to the infant who won't let me put him down!

As a matter of fact - my whole WFMW post was typed one-handed.

Admire me

:-p

[diatribal]

That's great!! I will remember to tell my mom that.

I love the "endless chewing gum". To this day, my grandma always has gum for me and my sister. I will always think of her when I see a pack of Trident!

[Lynnae (From Under the Clutter)]

That is such a great idea! I never would have thought of it. Your mom is brilliant!

[Overwhelmed With Joy!]

Hey, your mom came up with a GREAT idea! Thanks for sharing.

[Proverbs31]

I love that idea! I thought of doing something similar in the school room/playroom/baby's room =P But I hadn't thought about the initial thing - that's awesome. Thanks!

[Michelle at Scribbit]

My grandmother had a chalkboard we used to use but this is even better!

[Emily]

What a very lovely idea! I think I'll suggest it to my mom and mother-in-law.

[Corrie]

I don't know if my grandma's house is big enough, she would've had to have 56 bulletin boards.

It's a great idea.

[Macy]

Fantastic idea. I'm telling all the grandmothers I know.

[Kathy in WA]

Wow! This is an excellent idea! I love it. I'm definitely going to steal this. What a great way to present and organize the beautiful artwork that is constant and overflowing. Tell her thanks!!!

[Dot]

That is really neat. Wish I'd seen this tip when my children were younger and drawing everyday. I did something similar, but it was in their rooms and would have been nice together in another room where I could enjoy them more.

[Sasha]

I should do that for my kids. If only I had a wall. Right now the game room is covered with educational posters that they are using. I know maybe I will put them in their bedrooms so we can display their stuff in their rooms; help to make their rooms more of an expression of themselves. Great idea!

[Tammy]

You mentioned AARP ealier so I will make a funny commnet about it-I was born in 1959,but in 2006 I was sent a letter welcoming me to AARP.I sent the invitation back and told them to correct their computer.I figured that they transposed the 9 and 6!

I don't have grandkids either,but when we lived in a rural ara of Alalbama 13 years ago I was at the OB office I would see teenage daughters coming in with thei rmoms who were going to be grandmothers-at 35 and I was expecting our second child!!

[Jodi]

I love it!!! I'm an Art Therapist and for moms we can keep treasured art in portfolios home made with foam core or bought at the craft store in the art supply section. Or take photos of them and place them in a collage type picture frame...sometimes space is the issue. But for a Grandparent to have such space and use it to such a wonderful self-esteem enhancing way for the children is amazing!!! For your mom to have come up with this idea, she must have had more over the years, tell her to be gentle with herself. And for the knees...there is always motrin...i have a broken patella and the crunching is scary too...ahhh maybe the kids keep us young at heart but my body is aging before me and it's so scary. Thanks for all you do!

[warillever]

The bulletin boards sound like a great idea. Decorative and fun!

[Robin]

SHANNON!!! This is not a WFM comment, but WAAHOOOO on being the TypePad featured blogger yesterday!! I just saw it (I really wasn't around the blogosphere much yesterday). I have no idea what the criteria is for that, but CONGRATULATIONS. Sounds like a big deal to me!

:)

Happy Wednesday!

[Lorraine]

Just a ?? Did you play ball in high school?? Just curious.

I've got the same popping noises, and mild osteoarthitis in my knees and hips which goes back to bad coaching in high school.

Between my bad knees and hips, my carpal tunnel, my foot problem (thank you tile floors in Italy), and my back problems (three kids, all back labor. fun)... I tell my DH, I'm a 30 year old trapped in a 60 year old body.

[jen]

Every time I climb the stairs at my house...my knees pop and pop....I'm only 32....it stinks....I participated today...its been awhile....thanks as always for doing this....I look forward to it every week...I even have non bloggers looking forward to it weekly.

[Amy]

Sounds like something I need to do in my house! Thanks!

[Tara]

THAT is a GREAT! idea! I'm going to use it (if that's okay with Gramma Dryer) as a MOPS craft. Wonderful Good! Thank You!

[Emily]

I love your mom's idea! Sounds like a great way to organize the never-ending pictures.

Our WFMW is about the SnugTuck Pillow and there's a coupon code! :)

[mom2fur]

Okay, I've got to remember that one for when I have my own grandkids. It's brilliant! My mom had a room for the kids, but she never thought of anything that clever!

[Summer]

That's a great idea, even for moms!

[phyllis]

that's a great idea for moms and grandparents! thanks.... have a great wednesday.

[Kandy]

Add me to the popping joints club...my employees call me Granny and I'm only 37 LOL.

Great idea...I'm going to pass it along to my Mom :)

[Kim]

What a GREAT idea! I love it, tell your Mom, good job! Ofcourse she must have more wonderful thoughts, other than this,...look who her daughter is! Enjoying this post and links!

[Simple_Chic]

My mother did this in the kiddle's playroom at her house. Since he's the only one, a single board works well.

My joints have popped since 5th grade. No help for it, I just deal with it more and more as I get older. (I'm only 28)

My WFMW post is up.

[MC Milker]

Great idea! I have no room in my own house for artwork! I may try that too!

[Naturemama]

What a great idea, I'll have to share it with MIL. Another great idea shared on my homeschool group is to only display one or two recent pieces and take pictures of them as you go. Keep and album for each child with photo's of all their work.

[Melissa]

That is such an awesome idea! Tell you mom well done!

[SAHMmy Says]

Great idea! We're just starting to collect my son's artwork, but the fridge is sacred white space to me. Thanks for the tip!

[liz]

Can't wait to see a picture of the grandkids room! I'm going to send a link to your blog to my mom so she can get started getting the grandkids room ready.

[Melanie]

That sounds like an idea straight out of Pottery Barn! Kudos to your mom!

[misty]

that is a super Idea! I might suggest it to my inlaws as they are entertaining as well!

[Not the Queen]

Sorry about the two links. I forgot my description the first time.

[Karen@FamilyBriefs]

I started a ballet class this week and did more snap, cracklin', and poppin' than those elves in the cereal have done in years!

Thanks for sharing the neat artwork idea - it's always a struggle with what to do with it all!

[mattie]

I was wondering if you look at the links before they go up? #138 disturbed me. no I didn't click on it...too afraid

[Rachel]

What a cute idea! My kids would love it if they had something like that at their grandparents house.

[MooBeeMa in Oregon]

Grandma's are the BEST!! Thank you for sharing that idea.

[Ashleigh]

Thats a really good idea! I remember my grandpa always having gum for me..but it was that nasty black licorice gum. To this day I can't look at that stuff without wanting to gag! I think he tricked me into eating it once and thats why I have issues. Anyway, I LOVE WFMW!!!

[Alyson]

That is a great idea! I'll share it with my mom (although I don't know if my step dad will go for it) - but I'm also thinking about using it for myself! I've got 3 little ones and the art projects are endless. With their own board they can pick what to hang up, then when it's full they can pick what they want to remove to fit something new. Pure genius your mother is, Shannon! :). I've got a hallway wall that was just waiting for this inspiration, and I think I hear my fridge jumping for joy in the next room.

[Katrine]

I love the idea for bulletin boards.

[Kellyn]

Such a great idea! I may have to to pull that into home...thanks for the great post!

[Kathleen Marie]

I only have one grandchild, a one year old angel but when she starts drawing pics for granny, I will definitely keep this in mind. Your mom must have a big wall!

Hugs!

[Beverly]

That is a neat idea!

[Heather]

I'm sending your post to The Grand Momsie for review - she needs to get on it for her only grandson! Thanks, Shannon!

[Lynn @theVintageNest]

I love your blog. Makes me Laugh out Loud. Keep up the wonderful writings. :)

[Tracy]

What a cute idea! Something that will work for Mom too :-)

[Anita]

Cuuuttttee. Wish you had a picture.

[Kara]

Great idea! I need some of those.

[Amy]

I need to do something like that here with my first child getting into the 'art' project stage.

[Shannon]

Here is my link, a day late!

http://shannonrjordan.blogspot.com/2007/09/works-for-me-wednesdaysa-day-late.html

I love the bulletin board idea...then again, I already have bulletin boards hung up in the kid's rooms to hang their art on!