It's 7:30 a.m and the telephone rings.  "Who could be calling so early?" I think. It's my granddaughter Lexi.  "Hi Bingme" (a name she gave me when she was very little and couldn't say Grammy).  This delightful call was the result of a little project we had done the previous day.  We made a family phone book.

First I asked her mom to give her pictures of all the family members including Lexi.  I bought her a little spiral notebook and she cut the pictures so she could fit one on each page.  After she pasted the pictures in the book, I wrote in the telephone numbers below each picture. To help Lexi learn her home phone number, we affixed her picture and phone number on the first page.

We also found and printed out a photo of a fire engine and made an emergency page with 911 written under the picture.  We had a discussion about what constituted an emergency.  

This was now Lexi's special phone book.  When we completed the project I said "Let's test it out, and call Papa Rich."  She replied, "You mean on the real phone?"  She reminded me of my daughter the day she got her driver's license.  You could see the joy of independence on her face.  I purchased a magnetic hook for the refrigerator and we strung a ribbon through the top so she could hang it up and have a safe place to keep it.

Now Lexi calls me and other relatives all the time.  There is nothing better than a grandparent waking up to the sound of their grandchild's voice.  What a great way to start the day.



Audrey Weinstein is the proud grandmother of three beautiful granddaughters and lives with her husband in Lafayette, California.  Her daughter Amy introduced her to momready.