GRAND Magazine - March/April 2017 - Subscribe Today! - 17

money

Are you "that" grandma?
BY JEANNE SULLIVAN

'll admit it. I was that Grandma (only they call me Lola and I
know you may have your own zany name too!) The one who
brought three gifts to my grandson's birthday party. The

17 GRAND

MARCH APRIL 2017

one that shipped a little surprise present to my grands for their
first day of school and their last day of school. (We should celebrate both the school year and the summer, right?). The one
who made all of the other tooth fairies look bad when I slid an
extra $10 under my granddaughter's pillow the night she lost a
tooth on my watch.
And then one year at my grandson's Spider-Man themed 7th
birthday party, it happened. He tore through the wrapping paper of
his fourth gift from his classmates, and climbing through the SpiderMan paper was the same Spider-Man action figure that I had carefully anguished over in the Target aisle the day before. Sigh... Next
a Spider-Man lego set, then a Spider-Man bowling ball set, then...
you guessed it...the identical Spider-Man doll AGAIN. And he hadn't
even peeked into Grandma's red-tissue-paper laden Spider-Man gift
bag yet.
When he finally got to it - at gift number 13 or 14 - he smiled, said
"Cool! Thanks, Lola", and quickly moved on to gift number 14 or 15.
When I babysat him two months later, Spidey was still hanging out
in his gift bag in the corner of the living room. Even at the holidays, I
noticed that both kids got tired of opening gifts - there were far too
many under the tree anyway. I asked myself, "why did I buy so many
gifts and they are not even appreciated?"
That's when I realized that my grandkids have more stuff than I
can count. And truth be told, more stuff than they can count.
So, this year, I'm doing something different, both for me and for
them. I'm pledging not to waste my money on more plastic stuff that
is obviously teaching them values of consumerism and excess instead
of teaching them the value of hard-earned money.
I have searched for websites that let me build up savings for,
or sort out my grandson, Jack's, goals. There are a few but a new
website called iSow.com lets me use birthdays and holidays to

contribute to goals in 3 categories that seem sensible: saving for
the future, sharing with others and spending on experiences that
matter to Jack - instead of receiving more toys that he doesn't
want, need or use.

That's when I realized that my
grandkids have more stuff than I can
count. And truth be told, more stuff
than they can count.

My own kids would really appreciate a college fund for the
little darling, and I am easily able to establish such a fund on
iSow.com. Jack wants to go to Lego camp and take drum lessons
this summer. I am delighted to be able to support those dreams
as well.
The old adage says "you reap what you sow." Hopefully iSow
will help my grandchildren to sow for the things that are important
to them in life, and as a result, they will reap healthy financial habits
and concern for others instead of 3 identical Spiderman dolls.
Now I am that Grandma again, but in an entirely new way and I
like the way that feels.

GRANDmom of Jack and Patrick, Jeanne M. Sullivan
is a long-time venture capitalist based in New York
City. She is an advisor, investor, and is sought-after
speaker - aiming to inspire entrepreneurs on how to
finance their businesses.

http://www.isow.com/ http://www.isow.com/

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