Grilled Grandma: Angela

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 Angela:

How many children do you have? I have a wonderful son Joe, 31, with 3 of my grands - 2 boys and 1 girl, and one 29 year old daughter, Shell, with one grandson, and one 26 yr old daughter, Katie with 2 granddaughters.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? My sons 3 children are: Morgan 12, about to be 13-year-old granddaughter. I absolutely cannot believe that she will be a teenager! Kyle, 10 year old and Mason, 8 year old grandsons.

Shell's son is Austin, he's 6.

Katie has two daughters, Natilee 7 and Emma is 2.

Any great grandchildren? Nope, but my dad has 6. :)

What do your grandchildren call you? Nanny.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? I don't remember any concerns other than how often can I have them at my house.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Natilee says she lets me live with her and Emma, so I get to see them everyday. I see Austin a little more often than Kyle, Mason and Morgan. They live about an hour from me, but Austin is only about a 30 minute drive.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Sending them home when I'm worn out! :) And having all my lovely babies to hug and love! I have told my children several times: I wish I could have been a grandparent first, it's WAY more fun!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Just like most grandparents I would love to see them more. I am still working full time, so I don't have as much free time as I wish to go spend with them. Sad face...

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.

I picked Austin up from school one day and drove him to meet his aunt. On the way, we started talking about last year's Thanksgiving, and how he would get to come to my house again this year too. He was happy about that, except he didn't want to eat my round ham. He said that coming to my house would be fine as long as I got the kind of ham that Kyle and Mason ate instead of that round one I had, or he would just go eat with them. Needless to say, I bought him the kind of ham he eats with Kyle and Mason. Austin told me I got the right kind, and thank you. :)

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Usually bake cookies, Mason insists that we do. Chocolate chip are the current favorite. I also like to have them make things like cards or drawings for my dad or me, or their parents. Then we play games, watch movies, eat popcorn. Memory has been a popular game over the years. Oh, and puzzles, we must do puzzles!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Visit their rooms, let them tell me how things are going. Morgan was showing me some of her artwork for school a couple of weeks ago, and I loved it! She is very talented and inventive. They like to tell me about their pets, or their video games, or show me how well they are doing riding their bikes. Good times, good times.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Mostly by talking to their parents. I haven't done very much in the way of mail or notes.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That they love each other, even when they are driving each other crazy! That's usually when someone needs the love the most.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Loving. If I could have a second word, it would be fun.

(In costume. -Lisa)What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? That they grow up too fast too! Grab every single minute you can.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? To relax, have fun even if you are an everyday Nanny like me. I know now that there is nothing they can break that I can't live without except my heart. Our grandkids need to always know we love them and are proud of them, even if they just dropped and broke our favorite thing. We can still do like we did with our own children and always have teachable moments with them, but don't let the pressure you felt as a parent consume your relationship with your grands. It's all gonna be alright.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? Yes I do. It's called Accidentally Angela. I write about my life, things I'm grateful for and fun things I've found and sometimes things I sew or crafts I make. If I find something I find interesting I'll write about it.

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!

Grilled Grandma: Cathy

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 Cathy:

How many children do you have? 3. I have Shannon, age 26 who is the manager of a bar/restaurant. April is 23 and is the manager of a hair salon. And Ryan is 20 is in college studying engineering.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Just one. Maylynn (I call her MayMay) turned 2 in August.

Any great grandchildren? No, not for a very long time, I hope.

What do your grandchildren call you? Nana.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? How hard it was going to be for my daughter April. She is a single mother and that has to be the hardest job in the world.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Just about everyday. I watch MayMay while her mother works and since she works sometimes 50+ hours a week she is with me a lot. She also sleeps over several nights a week.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? How much more fun it is than being a mother. I know that sounds awful but I think being a mother is more stressful. Being a grandmother is like having all the fun parts of being a mom without all the responsibility.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Trying to keep up chasing after a 2 year old. I wonder how I did this with not one, but 3 little ones! But then I was 20+ years younger.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Today, MayMay came out of my office wearing my reading glasses. They were low down on her nose. It made her look like a librarian. Then she said “Look, I’m Nana!”

Something else she says a lot is when one of the dogs tries to take her food, she looks at them sternly and says. “That’s MayMay food, not dog food.” It’s just really cute how she says it.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We have a tradition on one of her over night visits. When we get up, we stop by Hardees to get a biscuit for breakfast. Then on the way home, we stop by the park and play for an hour or so. She loves this tradition and asks as soon as she wakes up when can we go get her “bisit”. She can’t say biscuit yet.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I don’t go over there that much. Usually when I do it’s when my daughter has a very early morning appointment so I go over while the baby is still sleeping. When she wakes up, I take her to my house, which is about 15 minutes away.

I guess I like the early morning quiet. I usually manage to get some reading done, which I love to do but have a hard time finding time for it.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? MayMay has learned how to call me on her mom’s phone so she calls me quite often when she isn’t here.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? How loved and special she is. I remember feeling that from one of my grandmothers even though she died when I was 8.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I can’t think of anything but then I have only been a grandparent for 2 years. Ask me 10 years from now and I may have an answer for you :)

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? To be available for advice about parenting if your kids ask for it but unless it’s a dangerous situation, don’t give your opinion in how they are raising your grand kids. And yes, that is sometimes easier said than done.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? I actually have over 50 sites but I won’t bore your readers with all of them. I’ll just mention my favorite one, which is called The Frazzled Homemaker. It can be found at http://TheFrazzledHomemaker.com.

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!

Grilled Grandma: Anna

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 Anna:

How many children do you have? Two daughters

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Two grandbabies, so far. My granddaughter Sydney will be 5 in February and my grandson Russell is turning 3 in December.

Any great grandchildren? Nope.

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me 'Nanny'

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Currently they live in Arizona and we live in Colorado, but now that I am retired I find a way to see them every few weeks. I also talk to them on the telephone often. They were both born here in Colorado and came to work with me in my store so I saw them every day. About 14 months ago their parents decided to move to Arizona...that about killed me because I was use to seeing them every day. I was first worried about them forgetting me, but I have since learned that they won’t forget me. I stay in touch with them, and see them as often as we can. Now I feel confident that they will never forget their Nanny & Papa.

Beyond the initial elation, what most concerned you upon hearing you'd soon be a grandma? Nothing concerned me negatively. I was immediately elated and have not come down from that high yet. When we learned that were were getting a second grandbaby that elation just doubled. I have a special bond with each of them. I feel like I was meant to be a grandma my whole life...and now I finally am.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Oh my...I don't know if I could name just one thing. I would have to say one of the best things is being able to be in the roll of a grandma and not a mama (with all the mama worries) I get the opportunity to see the world through the eyes of a child. They always amaze me with their view of things...so simple and untarnished. It helps to remind me not to take the world so serious.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? I am careful to respect their mama's rules, but at the same time, my daughter and I both know that grandma's get to bend the rules a bit ;-) when they are with Nanny. My daughter is totally okay with that too.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. They make me laugh so often, but the most recent was when I took my grandson to the bathroom while visiting my sister in California. He was nervous about using a strange bathroom by his self (he is newly potty training) so he asked me to go with him. Once we got in the bathroom he wanted me to use the potty first. Since I did need to go pee I agreed. As I was sitting on the toilet he said, "Nanny, you got a big butt." I said, "Well, thank you, you have got a little butt." He replied, "Well, thank you!" So here I thought he was insulting my big butt, but I guess he meant it as a compliment because he took my reply as a compliment.  We both laughed out loud together over that.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? They love to play with Playdoh so we break out the Playdoh kit and create things with it for hours.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? They enjoy showing me all of their books and toys. Then we go to the park and play until we are dog-tired. It is also a must to get an ice cream cone at the local DQ.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We talk on the telephone. At almost 3 and almost 5 it is sometimes hard to understand what they are saying over the phone (not seeing their mouths move), but I get most of it. They call me when they have something exciting to share, or if they are not feeling well. I call them when I need to hear their voices. We talk about how many more 'sleeps' (nights) until Nanny & Papa will be visiting them again.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That they each are very special people. That they have special talents and qualities about them, and I try to encourage their own unique specialness.

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? I don't know...I am still learning :-)

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Don't give advice to your adult children unless the specifically ask for it. Respect that they may have different ideas on how they want to raise their children, and that doesn't make it wrong...just different. Grandmas have a special relationship with their grandbabies, just enjoy that.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? Yes, my blog is about my life in 'mid-life' and all the changes that come with this new season such as going through menopause, being a grandma, my recent retirement, discovering my true self, and loving my time with my soul mate. The URL is http://IamNannyAnna.blogspot.com.

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!

Grilled Grandma: Cindi

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 Cindi:

How many children do you have? I have two adult daughters. My oldest daughter is 28, married with two children. My youngest daughter is 24 and finishing Grad School.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have two grandchildren. My granddaughter, 'Lil Moomette is 5 and in Kindergarten. My grandson Slugger is 3 and in Pre-School.

Any great grandchildren? No Way!

What do your grandchildren call you? My granddaughter started call me "Mammy" and her grandfather "Bampy" when she was just learning to talk. I thought is was quite unique and both she and my grandson continue to call us by those names!

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Wow, to this day I can still remember hearing the news! My daughter announced in May that I was going to be a grandmom! I asked when, and she said "October." I'm like, "What, October? That's not even enough time to plan a Baby Shower!"

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? My daughter and charming son-in-law used to live about 12 minutes away, so I would see the grandkids every day. I would be the one picking them up from daycare and bringing them back to my house until my daughter would pick them up to go home. They recently moved to a different town so we only get to see them perhaps once or twice a week now.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? I really enjoy watching  the grandkids discover and learn about new things.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? I do quite a bit of babysitting, and I find it challenging to remember that I am the grandmother, not the mom. I try to correct and discipline as needed. I have also realized that many of the health remedies in place when my own girls were little are not recommended any longer!

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. It was just the other day! My husband and I were driving taking the grandkids to buy new shoes, and my grandson Slugger was in the back seat with his new diecase airplane! He was flying it around and making zooming sounds! Since I only had girls, it was fun to listen to his little boy noises and how husky is voice is getting!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? When the grandkids visit I like to cook and bake with them!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Both of my grandkids like to play board games. It's funny to see that my granddaughter is as competitive as her mother, the athlete was!

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We talk on the telephone daily! Sometimes several times a day.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Mostly memories and that we enjoy our special time together.  Our family is very close.  This past fall we went to many local fall fairs and the Big E. My granddaughter and I road an elephant together!

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Loving. My own grandmom lived to be 101, so I got to enjoy her for a long time!  I still miss her.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? At this point, I'm still learning, so it's difficult to say! Every day's an adventure!

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Love them. Enjoy every moment, and watch them grow and blossom.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about?Editor’s note: Cindi has an enviable social media presence; here are the places you can find her:

Moomettes Magnificents

Family Life, Parenting, Grandparents and Grandchildren, Travel, Recipes, Food, Cooking, Reviews, Photography, Blog Resource tips, Social Media

Facebook: http://facebook.com/moomettes.magnificents

Frugal New England Kitchen

Helpful Frugal Hints from a Yankee Grandmom on Couponing, Recipes, Grandparents and Grandchildren, Family stories from the hearth of a Yankee New England Kitchen

Facebook: http://facebook.com/Frugalnewenglandkitchen

Twitter:  @Moomettes

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!

Grilled Grandma: Marge

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 Marge:

How many children do you have? Two amazing daughters. Heather and Christiana Hope

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Two beautiful grandchildren. Finnegan and AnnaSophia Grace. Both are 1 year.

Any great grandchildren? No great grandchildren

What do your grandchildren call you? Nana—wanted to be called that after my Nanny.  She was the best Nana in the world. Without a doubt the single best influence in my life!

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Hoping I would be a helpful not intrusive influence/helper to my girls as they took on the most important job as mommas.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I see Finnegan nearly everyday we live in the same town, down the road from each other. AnnaSophia I see as often as possible. She lives in a beautiful country home three hours away. :(

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Being able to watch them discover and enjoy and laugh at the same things their mommas did.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? For me, the most challenging thing of being a Nana right now is not being able to see AnnaSophia every day. Miss her and don't want to miss the little things when I'm not with her.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Big laughs when my husband Ken was playing peek-a-boo with AnnaSophia!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Go on walks; definitely watch Disney movies!!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? When Finn and I are hanging out at his house his very fave thing to do with his Nana is play ball with his big Star Wars Yoda Ball. When I am with AnnaSophia she loves to sit on the floor with her Nana and play "cooking,” playing with odd & ends pots, pans, spoons, etc.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Lots and lots of cards and letters! Nana care packages are quite common!

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The one thing I wish to pass on to my grandchildren is... My love of the Lord and the passion I have for life, making the most of it everyday.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Being a new Nana the only thing I wish I had known earlier is how much you'll love them and how much time you'll want to spend with them

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Be prepared to be caught completely off guard by how much you'll love, love, love, being with them!!

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? Yes, I have a blog. It is all about my everyday adventures, like a diary of nanahood with my granchildren. My blog site is: lovelettersfromnana.wordpress.com

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!