Grandparents

On February 24, 2007, ALEXIS K. INCE, 11 years old, loving daughter of Drs. Carlos and Tammy Ince. She is also survived by two sisters, Alyssa and Ashley, one brother, Cody, maternal grandparents, Simon and Dorothy Hadley, paternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Carlos Ince, Sr., grandmother Lilleth Gill and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends. Friends may call on Wednesday at 12 noon at the Nebo Christian Ministries, 240 N. Franklintown Road where funeral services will be held at 1 P.M. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Alexis's name can be forwarded to Ridge Ruxton School, 6919 N. Charles Street, Towson, MD, 21204 or the TUFF LOV Therapeutic Riding Program, 21 West Road, Suite 105, Towson, MD, 21204.

WILLIAMSPORT, PA. / / Williamsport makes national and international news once a year -- when the Little League World Series is played here in August. But it's unfortunate that this north-central Pennsylvania city gets forgotten almost as quickly as the last Little Leaguer rounds the bases at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. That's just wrong, because Williamsport is too rich a place to leave unexplored. I know, because I've spent some of the happiest times of my life there. In fact, Williamsport is more like my home than my hometown.

Here's an idea guaranteed not to be on your grandchildren's holiday wish list - a 529 college savings account. Here's a closer look at how grandparents can use 529 plans or two other approaches to help out on college costs: Tax free The most popular approach for helping the grandchildren pay for college is the 529 plan, which allows you to put away money tax-free for higher education expenses. Every state offers at least one 529 option. Maryland has two such plans. Grandparents can set up a 529 account or contribute to an existing plan opened by the grandchild's parents.

When Kitty DeVincentis was a girl, her grandparents would give her a quarter to go to the movies as a treat. She spent 10 cents on the movie, 5 cents on popcorn and kept the extra dime to "splurge" on candy during the week.DeVincentis, who has five grand- children, ages 5 to 17, and owns the Pied Piper, a children's clothing shop in Cross Keys, doesn't balk at spending $70 on a Madame Alexander doll or $45 on a bathing suit for one of her grandchildren. She spends more on her grandchildren than her own grandparents did on her, but she doesn't mind.

"7th Heaven." It's the show that shouldn't be a hit. A series about a family that sticks together through thick and thin -- nobody's going to watch that, right?Well, nobody watched it for a while, but now, in its third season, the WB network's "7th Heaven" is huge. Every week, more and more people -- kids, parents and grandparents -- tune in to the Camdens: Mom and Dad; daughters Mary, Lucy and Ruthie; and sons Matt, Simon and new twins David and Samuel."Kids always liked us, but now everybody watches us," says Jessica Biel, 17, who plays Mary.

For many American families, a trip to Grandma's house tops the list of summer vacation plans. The annual trek can mean a break for Mom and Dad, notorious spoiling for the kids and a year's worth of hugs and kisses for grandparents.But without preparations, it can also include an unexpected detour to the emergency room. Each year millions of kids are treated for household accidents such as poisonings, water-related injuries, falls, burns, choking and cuts. To avoid a vacation calamity and prevent unintentional injuries, Dr. Kyle Holmes, staff physician in the emergency department at Manchester Memorial Hospital in Connecticut, says, grandparents need to childproof their homes before the grandkids arrive.

"What did you do over the summer vacation?" is a question that more and more Carroll County children can't wait to answer. They have sailed from Baltimore to New York, fed dolphins in Bermuda and hiked in the Maryland mountains.They have traveled with tour guides who knew all the best places to go and who, like parents, knew just when to pamper and prod.They have traveled with their grandparents. And like many children, they have experienced the advantages of a growing trend in the travel business.

HUMANKIND rarely disappoints the pessimist. It is, therefore, not surprising that the families in an infamous switched-baby case, whom I once praised for intelligent selflessness, ultimately abandoned the high road and hired lawyers.What is surprising is that the court did the right thing. The judge sent the feuding adults home and, at least for now, has left the babies' psyches intact. A horror story comes to a noble, if not strictly happy, end.The switched babies case came to light in August 1998 when an unmarried mother sought genetic testing for a paternity suit.

A dark-haired, sleepy-eyed 8-year-old who loves to trade Pokemon cards, ride his bike and play Nintendo games, Manuel C. "Manny" Eliopoulos Jr. represents the heart and soul of his father's life.But twice each month, a car pulls up to his home in the Greektown neighborhood of East Baltimore, and his father has to control his anger. It's time for Manny to go to his grandmother's house in Glen Rock, Pa., a 45-minute drive north. The senior Eliopoulos must comply; the weekend sleep-overs are court-ordered.

Susan V. Bosak has connections most people would envy.In this age of fractured families, long-distance relationships and the guilt that often comes with them, Bosak, a children's author, shared a bond with her grandmother that defied geographic and generational differences and transcended an earthly notion of time.In her 1997 book "Something to Remember Me By," reprinted this year by Canada's research and education group the Communication Project, Bosak pays homage to that relationship. It's an award-winning illustrated storybook that begins when Bosak was a young girl visiting her grandmother and cooking in her kitchen.

With many grandparents baby-sitting their grandchildren during the day, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health wondered whether those children might be at a higher risk of injury in the care of older people whose parenting lessons were learned in an era where car seats weren't the law and child-proofing wasn't a multimillion-dollar industry. The findings, published yesterday in the journal Pediatrics, surprised its authors. In some cases, working parents who chose to have grandparents care for their children cut the risk of childhood injury in half.

Sadly, On October 21, 2008, VICTORIA RAQUEL CHAFFMAN (Baby), died peacefully, cherished daughter of Charles "Chad" E. Chaffman, Jr., and Amanda A. Good; devoted grandparents Lynn and Jim Good, Tammie Chaffman and the late Charles E. Chaffman, Sr., great grandparents Jim and Dot Moore, Shirley and Hank Storm, June Litz and the late Merle Litz, James and Anita Good, and the late Clarence and Dorothy Chaffman. Also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. AMBROSE FUNERAL HOME OF LANSDOWNE, 2719 Hammonds Ferry Rd. The family request donations in Victoria's name to the Epilepsy Foundation, The Chesapeake Region-Abilities Network, 8503 LaSalle Rd, Towson, MD 21286.

This week, Momof2 is looking for advice on how to keep grandparents "from going completely overboard with expensive, elaborate, space-consuming gifts that don't reflect our parenting values." She writes that even though she has given her kids' grandparents specific suggestions for modest gifts, they've ended up giving costly presents that don't fit in her house. This is a tough one, but Jan Faull, a Seattle parent educator and author of several parenting books, addressed it well in an article published on Healthykids.

Libby Strahorn piled four of her youngest grandchildren into the commodious van they all call Gram's taxi and headed for day camp at the Havre de Grace Activity Center. Strahorn wasn't dropping off the kids; she was staying to play at Harford County's first multigenerational camp. "Just getting together with the grandchildren and watching them interact with each other is great," said Strahorn, 69, a Fallston resident, who made stops in White Hall and then Bel Air to collect the children.

The Missouri attorney general's office is warning the elderly to avoid falling for the "grandparents scam." In the typical approach, grandparents get a call from someone who says he or she is - and might even sound like - one of their grandchildren. The caller describes being in a jam and needing money, possibly to return from a foreign country, pay for car repairs or get bailed out of jail. In the plea to help a family member, the victim is then asked to send money to the caller, often by wire transfer.

On May 29, 2008, STEVEN MICHAEL PARRISH, survived by parents, Steven C. and Michelle Parrish, sisters, Tia Branch and Stephanie Logan(Hasco), grandparents, great grandparents, and a host of other family and friends. Family will receive friends Friday at the family owned WYLIE FUNERAL HOME P.A. OF BALTIMORE COUNTY, 9200 Liberty Road Friday for the 12:00P.M. visitation 1:00P.M. funeral. Inquiries www.wyliefuneralhome.com.

Today is the final day of the 10th annual Maryland Film Festival. Check out these highlights: For the chance to experience films the way your grandparents (and great-grandparents) saw them, see Josef von Sternberg's 1927 Underworld, a silent and one of Hollywood's first gangster flicks. The three-piece Alloy Orchestra, whose scores for silent films qualify as national treasures, will be on hand for the musical accompaniment. (11:30 a.m., Charles 1) Jeffrey Schwarz's Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story, profiles one of Hollywood's greatest hucksters, the guy responsible for The Tingler, a 1959 Vincent Price flick where selected seats in the theater were wired, the better to elicit screams from the audience.

Here's an idea guaranteed not to be on your grandchildren's holiday wish list - a 529 college savings account. Here's a closer look at how grandparents can use 529 plans or two other approaches to help out on college costs: Tax free The most popular approach for helping the grandchildren pay for college is the 529 plan, which allows you to put away money tax-free for higher education expenses. Every state offers at least one 529 option. Maryland has two such plans. Grandparents can set up a 529 account or contribute to an existing plan opened by the grandchild's parents.

The parents and paternal grandparents of a 5-month-old Cecil County boy who was found dead in his crib last year have been indicted by a grand jury in connection with his death, state police said yesterday. Police said the boy's father struck the child in the head while he was crying, and although the boy showed symptoms of severe injuries over the next four days, no one sought medical assistance. On Nov. 28, Calob C. Martin was taken to Harford Memorial Hospital after being found unresponsive in his crib, and the state medical examiner later said his death was the result of blunt-force trauma to the head.

WILLIAMSPORT, PA. / / Williamsport makes national and international news once a year -- when the Little League World Series is played here in August. But it's unfortunate that this north-central Pennsylvania city gets forgotten almost as quickly as the last Little Leaguer rounds the bases at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. That's just wrong, because Williamsport is too rich a place to leave unexplored. I know, because I've spent some of the happiest times of my life there. In fact, Williamsport is more like my home than my hometown.