Mother’s Day Gift: Grandma Poem
We did this for my mom recently and I love it with all my heart. It is such a perfect mix of my kids and their wonderful insight into my mom’s personality that I can’t help but smile every time I see it. My kids gave this to her for Christmas, but it would make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift or Father’s Day present.
The idea started when I did one of those name poems for my son on a whim. We were in church and I was feeling so much love for him and I wanted him to know it. So I whipped out a piece of scratch paper, wrote his name along the side and then wrote in an adjective for each letter in his name. When I quietly passed it to him and he read it, he broke out in a huge grin. He then passed this back to me.
It is probably one of my favorite things on the entire planet. It had me giggling for days. My favorite is the line, “Once a cool happy baby.” So when I needed a present for my mom, I knew a name poem would be perfect.
First I got my kids brainstorming on what they should write. Before I started I decided that I wasn’t going to contribute any suggestions at all. Even if they were totally stumped. I wanted it to be 100% from the kids. Sometimes it was tempting to throw in an obvious adjective, but I am so glad I kept my mouth shut.
This is what they came up with:
Giggly
Runnable
Amazzing
Not Hurtable (Love this! It is so true! She is fearless!)
D– Loving (This one melted my heart, I love that they defined their grandma by how much she loves them)
Magnificent
A– Playing (Again, I love that the poem reflects the time she spends with them)
My mom is very active and involved with her grandchildren. It is not uncommon to see her wrestling, climbing trees, or showing off her headstand skills. I love how the poem reflects her energy and joy for life.
Once we had the poem, I made up a template in Word and printed it out on white cardstock. I then had the kids carefully write in their adjectives. Again, I held my tongue when the handwriting got sloppy. I wanted this to be their creation, not mine.
I then gave them a picture mat and let them decorate it with Do-A-Dot markers.
The templates were really easy to make, but just in case you have better things to do with your time, I have made a pdf template for grandmas, grandpas, fathers, and mothers.
Grandma Poem (PDF)
Grandpa Poem (PDF)
Mother Poem (PDF)
Father Poem (PDF)
