Introducing Grilled Grandma Kimberly

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What is a Grilled Grandma? A Grilled Grandma is a grandma whom I've grilled with some grandma-related questions, and she's graciously responded with answers and photos. Here is Grilled Grandma Kimberly.

How many children do you have? I have three children Adam is 31 and married to Courtney and currently deployed to Afghanistan. Not quite two years later brought a set of twins. Tim is married to Gwen and Raechel is married to Michael.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Conner (7), Lilli (5), Elsie Gray (3), Benjamin (20 mos), Gideon (14 mos), Maren (2mos). In addition, I am very close to a niece who has four, Oliver (7), Annabelle (5), Emmeline (4) and Everett(3). We lost my sister, her mom and their Granny, just a few months back. She had been very ill for a long time, so I consider my count at 10.

What do your grandchildren call you? Gramerly (Grandma Kimberly), Grandma and Kymbi.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? From the time I knew I would not be having anymore children, I looked forward to being a grandma. It was unusual circumstances. My son was at Basic Training when my first grandchild was born. I was a little unsure of how to be involved. It turned out my grandson contracted a rare bacterial infection that landed him in Intensive Care for 3 weeks. Scary incident, but great bonding for the families.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Thankfully, quite often. I have a Playdate once a week where they all come and play and play. In addition I'm close enough to go to games, plays and have them over frequently.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing is all the times I can say "Yes," to whatever they want to do.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? The most challenging part is that four different sets of adult parents have very different ideas about child rearing. Trying to avoid stepping on toes is challenging for me.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Laughing goes on all Playdate long, because if one isn't up to something another one surely will be.
I suppose it is one of those, "you needed to be there" moments. I have bunnies that play outside in an enclosed fence. Gideon, the 13 month old loves to be in the pen with bunnies. He walks round and round patting bunny boy bottoms and squealing and telling those bunnies some fascinating stuff. Cracks me up.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Wow, that's hard to say, because I am ever searching for new and interesting things to do with them. I suppose showing them how to garden, where eggs come from, and how to care for Bluebirds, as we rebuild the population here in Indiana.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I don't visit them as often as they visit me. I like to let them lead and just follow and obey.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? My between visits are short, but I might send them a card or an e-mail, or call to check up on a little sick one.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? My faith, all there is to notice in the big, wide world, my love of a good book, good food and good times.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Trust isn't a given.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Be patient, and just love, love, love each moment you have.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? My website is Free Ranging Chickens and Grandchildren.Basically it is a picture journal of my life as a Christian, wife, Gramerly, teacher, Gardner and Chickie Girl farmer. I hope that some folks might see how easy it can be to do fun things with the wee folk in their lives.

This grilling will now be permanently placed in the Grilled Grandmas Hall of Fame—AKA the Grilled Grandma Archives—under Grilled Grandma: Kimberly.

Dear Readers: If you'd like to nominate a grandma for grilling—yourself or any other grandma—please e-mail me her first name and e-mail address and I'll take care of the rest. Thank you!

Reminders of Grandma

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I like to ask my Grilled Grandmas to do things I can't do. Specifically, I like to ask them to provide answers that I myself am not capable of providing.

For instance, when grilling up a grandma, I always ask What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The ever gracious grandmas give profound answers I envy, especially because when I ask myself the same thing, a concise answer evades me.

The Grilled Grandma question I've most recently pondered myself is What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? The Grilled Grandmas have offered up some awesome words in the past years of me asking them that. But can I answer that myself? Heck no! One word? You gotta be joking, I told myself.

I can, though, think of a whole list of thingsI hope make Bubby and Mac think of me. Today I'd like to share that list with you—prefaced, though, by a brief disclaimer. As Bubby is older and we've known each other longer, most on the list are things I hope currently remind him of me, but they're things I hope will eventually do the same for Baby Mac. Maybe they already do.

Things I hope remind my grandkids of me

  • Colorado—as well as mountains, snow, squirrels, Pikes Peak, and the North Pole

  • hugs

  • the click, click and flash of a camera

  • homemade ice cream

  • Mary Poppins, Jungle Book, and Robots

  • airports and airplanes

  • hot tubs

  • playing pirates in the park

  • water balloons

  • Muddy Buddies

  • black dogs, pointer/pits, and cats

  • movie theaters

Ultimately, though, the only thing that matters does come down to one simple word. That word is Gramma. It's the one word I most want to remind Bubby and Mac of me, the one word by which they know me, the one word that is uniquely me, only me. At least when it comes to only them.

Today's question:

What things do you hope remind your grandchildren or children of you?

What is a grandma?

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My website stats show that folks often arrive at Grandma's Briefs by way of the search query, "What is a grandma?" As we grandmas darn well know, defining who and what we are isn't as simple as penning a few sentences similar to a dictionary entry.

That said, the Grilled Grandmas are experts in the field, so I figured combining their answers to the grilling question of "What one word do you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you?" would provide a pretty darn accurate answer of what a grandma is, or at least what one should strive to be.

So I did it. I went through all the Grilled Grandmas—from the very first to the one featured last week—collected their answers to that question, and input them into Wordle, using each word only one time (some, such as love, fun, and caring, were mentioned numerous times).

And here, my friends, is the result: The ultimate answer to the ever-burning question of ...

What is a grandma?

Bottom line? Looks to me like the best way to put it is that grandmas are just plain awesome!

Today's question:

What other words do you think should be added?

47 real names for real grandmothers

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In the stats for Grandma's Briefs, I often see that folks arrive here via search engine queries such as grandma names, what to call grandma, nicknames for grandmas, modern names for grandmas and more.

Here to satisfy such searches are some of the names grandmothers really go by, as revealed by some real grandmas themselves—the Grilled Grandmas:

Grammy

Minna

Mamama

Gramma

Granny Angel (full disclosure: her name is Angel)

G-ma

G-Maw

GG (sometimes standing for Gorgeous Grandma; other times Great Grandma)

Nana

Wheemaw

Bubbe (the Yiddish word for grandma)

Nanny

Gammy

Nona (the Italian word for grandmother)

Grand-ma

Mee mee

Grammie

Grandmother

Gramski

Mema

Pajama Grama (she gets everyone jammies at Christmas)

Gwamma

Gramma <first name>

Gramma with the white hair

Mams

Mi-Ma

Nama

Grandma Muzzy

Granny

Gran

Nee

Savta (grandmother in Hebrew)

Maw Maw

Nina (which morphed from Nana)

Nandy

Baba

Nimmy

Real Grandma (versus those not-so real)

Grandma Cat (because she has a cat)

Oma

Mammy

Grannie

Nonni

Grammi (with an i)

Grandma

Grandma <first name>

And my very most favorite because it’s what Bubby and Baby Mac call me: Gramma!

Today's question:

What did/do you call your paternal and your maternal grandmothers?

A change for the better

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Today I'm starting something new...with something old and tried and true. Wednesdays have always been Grilled Grandma day on Grandma's Briefs, and I've always introduced the week's Grilled Grandma here on the front page, then directed folks to read the entire grilling under the Grilled Grandma tab. Well, that's not how this will work anymore.

Thanks to a suggestion included in a generous and helpful critique of my blog by Melissa of Momcomm, I'll now post the entire Grilled Grandma of the week here on the front page, with an archive of them available under the Grilled Grandma Archive tab. The featured grandmas will be front and center—as they should be—with no more clicking from here to there and back again for readers and commenters.

So please read this week's Grilled Grandma feature...right here, right now. And if you're curious about other Grilled Grandmas, feel free to click on the Grilled Grandma Archive tab above. And if you'd like to nominate someone to be a Grilled Grandma (yourself or some other grandmother), simply e-mail me her name and e-mail address.

(For those of you wondering about New Word Wednesday, well, I was feeling kind of meh about that. But if you really want some new words, I'd be happy to recommend a good dictionary. Just ask.)

GRILLED GRANDMA: NANNETTE

How many children do you have? I have three children a daughter age 24 and two sons ages 21 and 14.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have two granddaughters Sophia is four and Vivian is three. They are sisters.

Any great grandchildren? No not yet.

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me Nana. My name is Nannette and my mom named me after my great grandmother who was called Nanny. From the time I was little I thought my grandchildren would call me nanny. However it kept coming out Nana, so that is what I'm called now.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? I knew my daughter was pregnant before she told me, just a feeling like mother's intuition. I was scared for her, because she was still quite young at 20. But I also knew that she would be a good mother. I love babies so I was also excited.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Quite often. I watch them for my daughter while she works and whenever she has to be gone for the Army National Guard.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Feeling all of the love that you felt for your own children without some of the angst.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Carrying them around. My back isn't as strong as it used to be.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. I was on the phone with my husband and laying on my bed. It had been rainy all day so I was letting the girls run around and be loud when normally I make them be quieter in the house. Vivian hopped up on the bed and announced, "We are horsing around!"

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Go pick out books at the library and read them for bedtime stories.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Give them a bath in their giant walk-in bathtub.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? This hasn't been a problem, because I see them every week and sometimes every weekday.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I recently completed my maternal ancestry back eight generations from them. I want them to understand that they come from a long line of strong and beautiful women who live life to its fullest. I am the only living connection for them, since my mother passed away a few years ago and my grandmother is quite old and frail.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? How to be both their grandmother and their daycare provider. I started out too lenient at times and had to reinforce the rules.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? to take the time to truly play with and love your grandchildren, because it is one of the greatest joys in life.

Do you have a website or blog? What is the URL and what is it about? Stay at Home Grandma Blog. I blog about my experiences with my grandchildren, family, childcare, home, frugality, and wellness.

(This grilling can be found in the Grilled Grandma Archives under, fittingly, Grilled Grandma: Nannette.)

Sense and nonsense

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Because my brain has been taxed far too much in the past week thanks to BlogHer '11 and doing my best to organize and utilize all I learned there, today I'm taking a break. I'm serving up nonsense, by way of today's New Word Wednesday.

And the word is ...

CODSWALLOP (KODZ wol uhp) noun nonsense; rubbish.

—Dictionary.com

In my dreams, I'm quite luculent and offer profundities beyond compare, but the reality is that what I serve up more often than not is heaping helpings of codswallop.

I've decided that going forward, instead of telling Jim now and then that he's full of <cuss>, er, baloney, I'll be telling him he's full of codswallop. Makes sense to me.

THIS WEEK'S GRILLED GRANDMA

For anyone who might think grandmas have little to offer and spend hours upon hours rocking away in a rocking chair, despairing that the best years of their lives have gone by—and that surely better not cannot be any regular visitors of Grandma's Briefs—one quick look at this week's Grilled Grandma should dispel that belief.

Lissa is the newest gorgeous, vibrant, and funny member of the Grilled Grandma club, and I hope you'll give her a warm welcome by way of comments on her grilling and clicks to her blog. You can start it all off right here at Grilled Grandma: Lissa. Be sure not to miss the shot of her with her four grown kids near the bottom of the grilling. The love between them in the photo is nearly palpable. So sweet!

Happy Wednesday, my grandma and non-grandma friends!

Today's question:

Provide one bit of truth and one bit of codswallop about yourself, leaving it up to those of us who read the comments to decide which is which.

Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?

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Okay, first let me say that I cannot believe I used a quote from the movie Rush Hour as my post title. But it's a quote Jim says. Often. So when I decided on this week's word for New Word Wednesday, the Rush Hour quote just popped into my head uninvited. And it seemed like the right thing to use. I apologize.

The word that made me think of that quote from an egregiously idiotic movie is much more cerebral than anything coming out of Chris Tucker's mouth, I can assure you. Pretty much. Maybe?

Well, you tell me. Here, my fellow wordies, is this week's offering for New Word Wednesday:

LUCULENT (LOO kyuh luhnt) adjective 1. clear or lucid. 2. convincing; cogent.

—Dictionary.com

I hope my inability to be luculent when meeting new people—and sometimes even when conversing with people who aren't so new—won't be detrimental to my experience at BlogHer.

Oh my. Yeah, ya'll might consider saying a prayer for me and my BlogHer experience. Please.

THIS WEEK'S GRILLED GRANDMA

If you're in the mood for cute, I've got you covered. Take one look a that little gal above and you'll have a small taste of the cuteness to come in Grilled Grandma: Janie. Her grandkids are cuties, no doubt, not only in the photos, but in the stories Janie shares of them. Don't miss it.

And if you're in the mood for hitting the open road, Janie has you covered there with her blog. Click on over after reading her grilling (link at the bottom of her grilling); you won't be disappointed!

Happy Wednesday!

Today's question:

Are you more luculent when writing or when speaking?