National Grandparents Day falls on the 1st Sunday after Labor Day (Sept. 12th). Founded by Marian McQuade, mother of 9, grandmother of 20, Grandparents Day was created to honor grandparents, give them an opportunity to celebrate their children's children and help children become aware of the wisdom and value in older people.

I've never really given any thought to Grandparents Day and I certainly had no idea it was an actual "day" signed into existence by Pres. Jimmy Carter in 1978. Unfortunately, Hallmark has failed miserably in commoditizing this special day. But maybe that's a good thing.

For the first time in my life, I am giving this day, and its honorees, some thought. My mind races through memories and moments that meant something:

My grandfather's grocery store on Central Park South and the fresh, warm bagels and pizza pie he would bring home after a hard days work. To this day, I am a bagel and pizza snob.

My grandmother's costume jewelry collection that I would devour with every visit and the hours we spent together sitting on the beach designing "seaweed" jewelry.

My grandfather's Green House. Every time I see cherry tomatoes, I see them cradled in his hands. I want to grow them in my garden.

My grandmother's powdery perfume. The Mystic Seaport. The fog horns. Orienta Beach. Larry King. Ironing my grandfather's handkerchiefs. Perfect pansies bordering the backyard. Snow.

The most wonderful memories I have as a child seem to be connected to the times spent with my grandparents. And I think about my parents, now grandparents themselves, and wonder if they had any idea how powerful and impressionable those times and relationships would become. Thank you.

Now as I watch my daughters love and be loved by their grandparents, I wonder what moments, what smells, what tastes, what games, what songs, what shenanigans, what conversations they'll have that will live in THEIR hearts forever.

Not everyone is a grandparent but everyone HAS a grandparent. And it's worth it to reflect, remember, honor, mourn, celebrate, forgive, and love those without whom we would not exist.

Here are some fun ideas for families to celebrate an often over-looked day from Grandparents-Day.com.

1. Create a family tree.
2. Grandchild can "interview" grandparent about his/her life, using either video camera or casette recorder.
3. Grandparents may help grandchildren write names and dates on backs of old family photos. Grandparents can relate info about ancestors, to preserve family history.
4. Complete "Hand in Hand" activity--grandparents and grandchildren.
5. Preserve family photos and history on video tape, CD's, etc.
6. Parents can help 4 to 6 year olds color Grandpa and Grandma.

What does Grandparents Day mean to you? How will you celebrate it this year?

It took me 3yrs to like this place, 3 yrs to love it and now after 9 years, a marriage, the birth of 2 daughters and a Saints Super Bowl, I now call New Orleans "home".

This is one of my favorite pictures of Anson (2 at the time). It is Mardi Gras Day and it is tradition in our family to meet at Café du Monde early in the morning, toodle around the Quarter and soak in the sights of Jackson Square.

Mardi Gras doesn't necessarily DEFINE New Orleans but it is a PICTURE that tells a story of a people, a culture, a history, an existence. It is family, it is tradition, it is revelry, it is unique. It is New Orleans.

Thanks to BP, New Orleans once again is on the frontlines defending and protecting its reputation as a world-class travel destination and a city that lives within the hearts of people around the globe.

The New Orleans Convention and Visitor's Bureau (NOMCVB) has launched the "Let's Do Shots! New Orleans Photo Contest" to inspire us as a community while telling a story globally.

Tell YOUR story to the world by uploading a photo to the New Orleans Photo Contest Facebook Page that captures the essence of what New Orleans means to you. And this isn't just a local-thang. Encourage others who live elsewhere to show us how New Orleans has captured their heart.

There will be 2 winners: a local and a visitor. The public will vote and the winners will each receive a 3day/3night New Orleans experience for 2.

Looking for a little inspiration? View all the entries here.

Good luck and laissez les bon temp rouler!

I am LOVING the Ogden these days. In their commitment to enhancing our community and engaging parents, they have launched a series of family/kid-focused initiatives, including Ogden Playdates, Art & Drama Camp and Start with Art.

They even have a blog (who knew?) called Education at the O, which was recently featured by Best Colleges Online as one of the "Top 50 Awesome Art Museum Blogs".

Parenting. It's hard. It's complicated. It's full of the highest highs and lowest lows. Right when you think you've mastered something, something new comes up and you're cut off at the knees. It's exhausting.

But we do it anyway. And no matter how hard it is or how much we doubt ourselves, our abilities, our decisions or the outcomes, we just put one foot in front of the other and move forward...with our hearts on our sleeves.

And thank goodness we don't have to walk this walk alone.

The New Orleans Parents' Club (NOPC) is a NEW initiative intended to provide a weekly time and place for parents to connect.

This new group is the brain child of Suzy Lazarus, Clinical Social Worker for Jewish Family Services, Dr. Dahlia Topolosky, local child/family psychologist and Adrienne Shulman, Nursery School Director at the Uptown JCC. These amazing women have a passion for families and are committed to supporting our local parenting community.

If you have young children, this group is for you. Dr. Dahlia will lead the group in discussions that focus on effective parenting skills and child-parent relationships, while responding appropriately to the needs and concerns of the group.

This is a great opportunity to meet new parents, form new friendships, learn innovative ways to parent and have access to one of our city's talented child/family psychologist.

The group will meet every Monday morning at 9:15 at the Uptown JCC beginning Sept. 13. Meetings are kid-friendly and light refreshments will be served.

First visits are FREE! Membership is $100 a year and gives you access to 30 sessions.That's $3/meeting. OR you can drop in anytime for $10.

Yes, meetings are at the JCC. But you don't have to be Jewish. You don't have to be a JCC member. ALL are welcome.

For more information or to register, please contact Suzy Lazarus at (504) 831-8475 or by email.

McGehee's Little Gate Early Childhood program has captured the attention of parents and educators across our community. In countless conversations with new parents on the topic of "where should I send my child to school," Little Gate consistently ranks at the top of the list.

Mimi Odem, Director of Lower School Admissions and Reggio Emilia Coordinator for Little Gate, leads a team of enthusiastic teachers along an innovative path that integrates one of the most philosophically progressive educational models for early childhood education: The Reggio Emilia Approach.

I sat down with Mimi to find out more about the Reggio Emilia Approach, how it fits into the Little Gate curriculum and why children get more out of it.

The Reggio Emilia Approach to learning encourages higher-level critical thinking, enhances language and listening skills and introduces the process of collaboration. The learning environment is child-led, teacher-directed. In other words, teachers facilitate learning opportunities based on the interests of the child, her natural curiosity about her world and her relationship to it. The teacher responds to what the child is prepared to learn at that moment in time.

To give you an example of a Little Gate child-led/teacher-directed lesson, a group of 3-4 year olds started asking questions about the sun and the moon. This discussion led to a class project about outer space. Teachers used the Internet to show students photographs and footage of the planets, the moon changing phases and a space shuttle liftoff. If you visited this class during circle time, you would find these children stretched out on the floor "stargazing" and looking at the solar system, complete with a disco "sun" ball. Learning becomes an experience.

From a teacher's perspective, this approach seems challenging because there is no set curriculum. There is no "standard" lesson plan and what you did last year might not make sense this year. But it is the willingness of the teachers to challenge themselves for the benefit of the students that allows education to evolve and advance. It's not easy, but nothing important ever really is.

Over the last few years, Little Gate has been diligent in evaluating all of its programs. Mimi has worked hard to enhance those that are consistent with the Reggio Emelia Approach and eliminate those that are not. In April, they had their first "Little Gate Reggio Day", an open-ended materials day, where activity centers were set up in each classroom to introduce undefined objects and materials.

The idea of introducing open-ended materials is a key concept to the Reggio approach. An open-ended material is anything undefined and presented outside of its intended purpose: tubes, balls, marbles, flour, clay, wire, hay. When introduced, children naturally explore and define for themselves the purpose of the materials as they experience them. This learning opportunity stimulates thoughtfulness, creativity, investigation, exploration and complex thinking. The children must communicate, collaborate and make agreements about the identity, purpose and function for each material they encounter. For the teacher, new lessons surface.

Parent collaboration is another key component to a successful Reggio Emilia-based curriculum. The classroom extends well beyond school grounds and into the home. For example, Little Gate teachers encourage parents to showcase their children's artwork at home and talk about it. This simple idea creates learning continuity. It also sparks countless conversations and new learning opportunities for the students.

One day, I decided to give this idea a try. Instead of filing my daughter's artwork away for her to admire when she's 18, I sat down with her and struck up a conversation:

Anson, tell me about this picture. It's a flower! What kind of flower? A tulip! Does it smell? Yes! Like what? Roses! Where do tulips grow? In the garden! Do tulips like sunlight or do they like shade? I don't know! Well, I said, let's Google it! Heck, let's plant one! We did our research, made a list and headed to Home Depot.

Our tulip may not have survived the harsh climate of toddlerhood but in its demise a new lesson presented itself: What happens to our things when we don't take care of them? A parent-favorite.

In May, Anson completed her second year at Little Gate. In the coming weeks, she will be a Yellow Elephant where she will prepare for preschool. I watch her in complete amazement. She is inquisitive and bold. She is imaginative. She is creative and vocal. She is an explorer and a problem-solver. She sees purpose in objects that makes no sense to me, but who am I to say a shoestring can't be the billowed sail to her imaginary pirate ship?

What are the long-term benefits of a Reggio Emilia-based education? Only time will tell. I can say for certain that the respect she is shown by her teachers as an individual and as a contributing member to the Little Gate community is shaping who she is, who she will become and how she sees the world - as a playground of friends and ideas to be embraced, explored and respected.

After 19 years at McGehee, thirteen of which were spent as Director of Little Gate, Mimi Odem moved on to be Director of Lower School Admissions and Reggio Emilia Coordinator for Little Gate. No doubt that a focused effort to integrate the Reggio model at Little Gate will have a direct impact on the long-term development and success of McGehee students.

IDEAS FOR PARENTS:

• Keep a box at home that collects open-ended materials found around the house. Explore, create and build!
• Make a secret nook. Empty a cabinet, place a pillow inside and use flashlights and mirrors for some light exploration.
• Invite your child to explore with sounds and textures by working with wax paper, tin foil and tape. Crunch, crinkle and tear.
• Empty your junk drawers. Provide an egg carton to inspire sorting different materials such as corks, keys, ribbon, old beads, etc. Add glue and a cardboard base to inspire a collage or add the "beautiful stuff" to an area with blocks to enhance play.
  
• Add long pieces of fabric to your child's dress up bin (pick up some remnants at the fabric shop). These open-ended materials will become a variety of different costumes and accessories in your child's pretend play. Big pieces of fabric with no defined use will inspire creative thinking and will often become veils, dresses, picnic blankets, hiding places and much more.