Dear Eleni Kalorkoti,

I love this art you created in the The New York Times. How talented you are!

But alas, my admiration for your illustration lasted ten seconds until I thought: “Oh, no!” I’ve never had a cooking session with a grandchild on a video chat.”

Total guilt. In-town grandmas cook with their grandkids … why haven’t I attempted it on a video chat?!? After all, I know we faraway grandparents must initiate activities to keep our “captive audience” as we use FaceTime, Skype, Facebook Portal, or Google Duo. My posts on this blog have lots of good ideas, I hope, starting with reading books . I really do try to be a creative Gram.

But did I ever say to my 8-year old granddaughter, “Charlotte, let’s cook together!”? Guilt-ridden me must whisper a sad no. I cannot imagine how to pull that off. Of course, Anderson (age 6) would want a cooking session, too, as would Fiona (age 4). At least the baby wouldn’t get wind of it — or care.

Granted, it would be hard to do this parallel cooking with one of the grandchildren on video chat, even one child at a time, because the sibs would be in the background, catapulting chocolate chips into the mixture from across the room. Plus, how could I ask my busy son and daughter-in-love to do all the prep required on their side?

Oh! And of course, the biggest reason of all: I’m not a cook. A smart Gram realizes her own limitations. Maybe I could eat cookies with them on Facetime.

So thank you for a great idea, Ms. Kalorkoti. Perhaps my readers can use it.

Sincerely, Jane

How are you using video chatting to stay connected with your grands? Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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