A Play Phone Connects Long-Distance Grandparents

“I’m going to miss you,” I said to Miss T, then four years old, as she prepared for an extended overseas vacation. Although we live just 10 minutes apart, Steve and I would become long-distance grandparents while the children were away, and I was already feeling a little wistful.

At this point, Miss T begged to take a green toy telephone, part of a kitchen play set at our house, on her trip.  I discouraged this because I felt sure she would lose it, leaving an empty space on the kitchen shelf where the phone should be. 

Little did I anticipate that this sensitive and thoughtful child envisioned the green telephone as a way to stay connected with us.

The Search for an Alternate

To satisfy her want of a phone, I went to Target and a few other places looking for an alternative. But all the phones had pre-recorded messages on them. 

What Miss T wanted was something simpler. She just wanted that green plastic telephone.

In the end, on the day of her departure, I relented. She took the phone.

Hello, Grandma!

After Miss T and her family boarded the airplane, I learned why that phone was so important to her.  She was using it to call grandma.

Her parents texted me a photo of Miss T and her pretend phone call.  From then and throughout her trip, she “called” grandma with vacation updates.  And while I couldn’t hear her conversations, she was satisfied that she was sharing her experiences with me.

Had I known why she wanted the phone, I would have given it to Miss T gladly. At the time, it just seemed superfluous, given the number of toys she was packing for her trip.

And, surprise! She didn’t lose the phone. Two years later, it still sits in our house, in her play kitchen, on the shelf over the play stove.

For another way to connect long-distance with grandkids, craft together.

I marvel at how Miss T came up with the idea of sharing her adventures with me through this toy phone. I’m especially touched that staying connected was important to her. And that she had thought the idea through, down to asking for the toy phone in advance of her trip.

Stay in Touch as Long-Distance Grandparents

Here are some ideas we’ve used to stay connected when either we – or the grandkids – are on vacation. I

• FaceTime, Zoom, and other video chats allow for real-time conversations about what’s happening on vacation.  Important: If the family is traveling to another country, know how these services work internationally for billing purposes, to avoid unexpected phone roaming charges.
• A play phone for pretend conversations enables children to instigate a “call” whenever they want, without adult assistance. A parent should be paying attention, so they can relay some of the conversations to the grandparents later. Or just video the conversation to email back to the grandparents.
• Google Photo share—My son uploads photos to his Google account, edits them, creates a daily album, and makes them shareable so we can follow the vacation in progress.
• Writing letters—I write very short letters to Miss T, using simple words, that I email to her parents. Miss T writes back on paper. Then her parents photograph her letter and text me the photo. This is a good way to stimulate reading and writing skills.

• Sending postcards—when we travel, we send a postcard to the children.  It’s always fun for kids to receive personal mail the old-fashioned way.
• Video—when we’re the ones traveling, we do a short phone video on location, to send back electronically.

An App for Long-Distance Grandparents

The following information was accurate four years ago, when this post was first published. Also, here are some other photo sharing app choices for 2023.

Finally, if you live away from your grandchildren, here’s an app that your family might like. Before the birth of our first grandchild, I encouraged my daughter-in-law to find an easy way to chronicle the baby’s development by tapping into technology. She researched and found Tiny Beans.

Tiny Beans is a secure, online journal where parents can upload videos and photos to share with friends and family. Because it is formatted as a photo journal, the app encourages taking photos of the kids every day, so there are no gaps in the daily calendar. The beauty of this format is that, instead of just capturing momentous occasions like birthdays, parents are inclined to also photograph the more mundane aspects of day-to-day life–photos of the kids eating breakfast, for example, or an afternoon at the park.

Everybody who shares the Tiny Beans account can also upload photos and videos. I always tried to take a few snaps when I was babysitting or when the family came for Friday night dinner. I wanted to help create a rich, vicarious experience for the children’s maternal grandparents, who live half a world away.

What a gift to long-distance grandparents to see photos of the grandchildren, daily! And what a gift to the grandchildren, when grown up, to be able to relive through pictures, their world as kids.

What are some ways you stay connected with your grandchildren when you are apart?

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