The following words and their definitions are easily found in any dictionary:

Motherhood: 1. The state of being a mother. 2. The qualities of a mother. 3. Mothers considered as a group.

Sisterhood: 1. The state or relationship of being a sister or sisters. 2. The quality of being sisterly. 3. A society, especially a religious society, of women. 4. Association or unification of women in a common cause.

Fatherhood: 1. The state of being a father. 2. The qualities of a father. 3. Fathers considered as a group.

Brotherhood: 1. The state or relationship of being brothers. 2. Fellowship. 3. An association of men, such as a fraternity or union, united for common purposes. 4. All the members of a profession or trade.

Neighborhood: 1. A district or area with distinctive characteristics. 2. The people who live near one another or in a particular district or area. 3. The surrounding area; vicinity.

Alas, there is no grandmotherhood, though. At least not as a word in the dictionary. I've looked...several times, in several different versions. Not even in the Urban Dictionary.

Let there be no doubt, though, that the concept of grandmotherhood does indeed exist. It's evidenced by the awesome group of grandmothers and others who gather here on Grandma's Briefs. Who gather and comment and support one another on any grandma blog, any grandparent blog, any grandparent site, on Facebook, on Twitter and beyond. And who gather face to face, be it at one another's kitchen tables, in the shared pews of churches, at a favorite dining—or drinking—spot for "grandmas night out." A network equally as strong as brotherhoods, sisterhoods, and other 'hoods deserves to be equally named.

When obnoxious and obscure terms such as bromance, clickjacking, and the ever-so-freakin'-annoying nom nom that makes me throw up a little in my mouth every time I read it make their way into the dictionary, I don't understand why grandmotherhood—grandmothers considered as a group—is absent. It's not obnoxious. It's not obscure. And it doesn't, I daresay, cause anyone to throw up in their mouth even just the eensiest of bits when considered. Grandmotherhood is a true and tangible state that should be recognized, yet isn't.

It's time to change that. I propose we join together to ask where's the 'hood? At least in name. In every other way we know exactly where the 'hood is: It's in our online connections, our networking with like-minded grandmothers. It's evident in the places where our heartstrings are plucked upon hearing the plight—or the joy—of fellow grandparents we've never even met, likely never will. It's unmistakeable in our shared hugs, virtual and otherwise. It's in the stories we tell one another, the photos we share, the genuine concern and care for others who have been there, who are there right alongside us. It's for real, and the lack of a word to define the concept belittles the state we're in, the connection we have.

We are a 'hood. We are the grandmotherhood.

I want us to be recognized.

I want us to be heard.

I want us to have a word.

Photo: stock.xchng

Today's fill-in-the-blank:

I think the word(s) _________ should be struck from the dictionary for good.