My husband and I have far too few chances to spend time with our grandchildren who live over 400 miles away. So we look for opportunities to share bits of wisdom and stories of yesterday with them whenever we can.

On our last visit we carried with us a pail of un-shelled field peas. If we had simply asked them if they would like to shell peas, they would likely have said no. So we sat down and started shelling peas. Then we invited them to join us – and the stories began.

My husband was quick to share with them how it reminded him of the many times when he used to sit and shell peas with his grandma. He told about her baking and how she always had a spot of flour on the tip of her nose. Every time one of the grandchildren would ask her a question, she would stop baking and absentmindedly touch her floury finger to the tip of her nose to think.

His grandma loved to bake cookies for children. She also loved to tell Bible stories. So she often baked up a big batch of cookies and invited all the neighbor children over to enjoy cookies and Bible stories.

What a wonderful heritage he has to pass on to our grandchildren. What kind of stories can you share with your grandchildren? What works to get them to sit still and listen?