Granny's Magic Bag

Today while my friend Pam and I were in Beloit, Kansas where I was speaking to a great group of women on "Buckets of Encouragement," we stopped by a little shop where we bought Easter treats for our grandkids--Pam's four grandboys and my six--three girls and three boys. I also found some shiny darling bracelets for my "Magic Bag" that I'm going to take to Wisconsin when I go see Josephine and Lucy in early May. "What's that?" Pam asked. I told her about the little bag a friend gave me from the night market in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I put things like super bounce balls, bracelets and fun rings, sugarless gum, a tiny pack of crayons and notebook, magnets, or a finger puppet. Anything to occupy your grandchild. Take the bag with you when you go to a restaurant and she/he gets fidgety, and say, "I guess it must be time for a surprise from Granny's Magic Bag!" Then your grandchild gets to put his hand in and pick something out. Yours could be called "Nana's Magic Bag" or "Mimi's Bag." What matters is this has the element of surprise and is lots of fun.