Grilled Grandma: Donna

Donna with granddaughter Samantha (Joshua's oldest sister)How many children do you have? I have three children, three step-children from my late husband and four from my current husband.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? At last count it was 25 – they range from a year old to 27. Phew!

Any great grandchildren? Unofficially, one on the way….oh my!

What do your grandchildren call you? Most call me Nana but the newest step-grandbabies are using Nonna.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Not near often enough. We’ve been lucky to see most of them at least once in the last year but several I haven’t seen in way too long!

Grandson Joshua with husband Stu.What is the best thing about being a grandma? It’s all good….we should have had them first. Seriously, we get to just relax and enjoy them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? For me it’s worrying about them growing up in this day and age. Growing up in the 50’s was a pretty good time, I wouldn’t want to be a kid now and have to deal with the information overload and peer pressure they have.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. I hadn’t seen my three grandchildren in Atlanta since our wedding back in April. We were headed there for Thanksgiving and I picked up some little stuffed animals for them at Cracker Barrel. The girls were easy…anything soft & cuddly, especially kittens. The youngest, a boy almost 4, was a little tougher….until I saw a Wooly Mammoth. When I gave it to him he started running around with it and screaming, “Ice Age! Ice Age!” We all had a good laugh at that.

Step-granddaughter JesseWhat is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Ah, we love to travel and having the kids for an overnight or even a camping trip is the best!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? That is hard to say since there is such a wide age difference. It might be watching a movie, reading a book, or even just talking.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We do keep in touch via Facebook so that is good. We are also trying to get everyone to use a webcam with Skype. Got to love technology!

Step-granddaughter twins Jordan and Jessica with Olivia (Jesse's sister) What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? A sense of adventure and being true to yourself. I spent way too many years trying to be what everyone else thought I should be. When I turned 50, I realized that I needed to be true to me.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Happy!

Do you have a website or blog? Actually I have several – our blog is at http://2takinga5th.blogspot.com and I have two websites, one for women motorcyclists, http://ridemyown.com, and an old personal one that needs updating by has some good RVing stuff, http://myprimeyears.com.