Skype: connecting with family far far away!

Mothers day is fast approaching and so today Miss May and I decided it was high time we posted our Mothers day card's to Grandma and Nanna back in Australia.  We jumped in the car, turned up the volume and cruised down to the Newton Post Office, waited in a 'car que' for a park (I kid you not), parked, shuffled inside, bought stamps, stuck them on and popped them into the slot.  I've gotta be honest ... it all felt rather archaic!

It got me thinking about pre-email/skype/SMS/MMS/tweet/facebook/blog days.  I remembered (and at the risk of revealing my vintage) that when I lived in Japan as a 17 year old I would fax my family a letter once a week... and I was a lucky kid, my father had a fax machine!

By the time I began my second long-term stint overseas as a 20 year old email had hit, but we didn't have PC's of our own or internet access at home so all emailing was done during scheduled time in the University library or at internet cafe's.  I remember writing HUGE emails, making sure the grammer and spelling was correct and hitting the send button with relish and excitement.  What a fabulous way to avoid study.

Today my emails are often one-liners and are riddled with abbreviations and acronyms.  We text, call and skpye home without giving it much thought.  Social media means the Third Culture Kids of today have far greater opportunity for really connecting with family back home than those who tred before them.

Here are my TOP TIPS FOR SKYPE-ING... home... with little kids in mind!

• Choose a regular time to skype, diarise it and make it a priority to keep the date
• Skype at a time when grandparents or cousins can share in an activity (reading is the most obvious activity.  The lovely Jenika from World and Twirls Around the World had a great idea:  Grandma buys the book her Daughter is reading so the two of them can read aloud together.  They can check the page and show each other the pictures they particularly like etc...)
• Skype when you are painting or doing crafts so your kids can show and/or explain what they are up to.  We sometimes skype my grandparents during a painting session, Miss May loves getting attention from Grandparents for her good work.
• Older kids?  Leave them to it!  Uninhibited by hovering parents they can carve out their own dialogue with Grandparents or Cousins.
• Little kids?  Gimmick!   Miss May's Nanna, right from the early days kept 3 sparkling, flashing balls near her PC and would show Miss May every time we skyped.  Miss May loved it!   Then when Nanna visited she brought the balls along, she even left one with us!  I think stuffed toys would also work... something visually appealing which little ones might recognise before they start to really know the faces and voices of relatives.

Do you have any skype tips for parents with family far far away?  I'd love to hear from you...

Happy skyping peeps!