Feels like the first time: The joy of snow
/Many Grandma's Briefs readers are experiencing snow fatigue like never before. This one's for you, my frozen friends.
Though I can't make the snow disappear, my hope is that this...
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Musing elsewhere: When a teen mom hits midlife
/In the summer of 1982, I graduated from high school, got married, turned 18, and had a baby. I went from kid to wife and mother in the span of three months, just like that.
My husband was 21 at the time. Now, 33 years later, we're empty-nesters. We've patted ourselves on the back for a job well done. We beat the odds and raised three lovely and amazing daughters from diapers to dorm rooms and into the real world. Our journey featured little outside the typical bumps, bruises and pains of parenthood, despite the fact that we were mere children ourselves at the outset. Our girls are grown and gone—one has even made us grandparents.
Time to rejoice! Time to enjoy midlife!
Time for an unexpected reality check, is more like it.
Once my kids split and I recovered from the initial empty-nest jitters, it became clear that having been a teen mother would...Click here to continue reading my article published on PurpleClover.com.
On life and not just getting through
/
Not long ago, I realized I repeat myself. Again and again and again. The same phrase.
Lest you think I’ve developed a tic, let me explain.
Mid-summer last year, I faced some medical challenges. Despite the distress, I still had to maintain my home, my family, my connections, and — most time-consuming of all — my freelance job (you don’t work, you don’t get paid). I began noticing I’d accomplish each...
12 things grandmas can't do
/
Grandmas can do some pretty amazing things. That's not too surprising, though, considering that they're mothers super-sized into grandmothers. Their super powers are practically a given.
There are, though, a few things grandmas can't do. At least 12, in fact.
ONE
Grandmas cannot send letters, cards, and boxes through the mail...
Of this I can't resist: Pre-Thanksgiving Christmas cheer
/I typically steer clear of anything smacking of Christmas cheer before Thanksgiving. I do my best to avoid holiday displays in the stores until after the Thanksgiving turkey leftovers have filled my fridge. I ignore collecting recipes for Christmas treats and eats before I've enjoyed my Thanksgiving cranberries and pumpkin pie. And Christmas tunes of any sort are absolutely forbidden on my stereo, car radio, iPod and any other musical device until Thanksgiving evening, at the earliest.
Yes, I do my best to resist anything that upsets the order of my holidays.
My resistance to pre-Thanksgiving Christmas cheer dissolved immediately, though, when...
Middle child of my middle child
/ The Middle Child
Even though you're not the oldest,
or the youngest, you see,
Being in the middle is a really neat place to be!
The middle of a sandwich
is the most important part,
And in the middle of your body,
you will find your heart.
The engine in the middle
is what runs a good machine;
And our family wouldn't be the same
without you in between.
~Unknown
I know labeling children isn't an appropriate thing for grandmothers...
Looking back: 9 things we did right as parents
/
I didn't support my youngest when she wanted to change majors — and universities — midway through her college career.
I didn't call parents to tattle on their mean girls (and boys) who made a living hell of several academic years for my middle daughter.
I didn't demand my oldest...
