Grilled Grandma Angel

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 Angel:

How many children do you have? Between my husband and me, we have 6 kids. Three are his and three, mine. His are all biological: Michael, Melissa and Colleen; I have one biological son, Rory Taylor, one adopted daughter, Maggie and a step-son, Nick, that I consider my son.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We have 5 grandchildren, 4 girls and a boy. Sacnite’, nine; Micah, six; Aurora, two ½; Clara, two; and Violet, one.

Any great grandchildren? Nope!

What do your grandchildren call you? Granny Angel, Granny, or Angel.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Our 2 ½ year old granddaughter, Aurora lives in the same city—in fact just a few blocks away. We see her every week or two. Sacnite’ and Violet live in Fayetteville Arkansas and Micah and Clara live in Fairfax Virginia. I go over to Arkansas every few months to visit and they were here for the Christmas holidays. They may be moving here sometime next year. I see the two in Fairfax about once a year.

Beyond the initial elation, what most concerned you upon hearing you'd soon be a grandma? The news for each felt a bit different. With our mixed family and the distances, I was initially concerned about whether I’d get to see Micah as much as I’d like. He has three other grandmas! I guess that’s been my concern about all of them—just getting to see them as much as I’d like. Sacnite’ is my son’s step-daughter. I knew about her since she was two and knew she’d be my granddaughter when she was about 5. She lived in Mexico with her mother at the time and I didn’t get to meet her until she and her mom got their visas and moved to the US when she was 7. Her sister, Violet, now age one, is my only biological granddaughter. I was able to go to her home birth—that was amazing. I had had Rory Taylor at home also. Sacnite’ and I talk via the Facebook video and that has been fun. I used to fly to Virginia at least once a year to see Micah and Clara, but with the poor economy, I just haven’t had the money. They came to visit us for 5 days after Christmas last year (2010) and I haven’t been able to see them since. I do regularly talk with their parents and see photos, but it’s not the same as being with them. Micah knows me, but I doubt Clara remembers much about me.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Being able to play with them and not worry about “teaching” or behavior that much.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Dealing with their parents! I don’t mean that in a bad way—it’s just that they all have their own parenting methods, and I have to remember about what that is for each family! I am very careful not to give unasked for advice or suggestions and am lucky that all the mothers like me and aren’t overprotective.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Micah says the most interesting things. His mother often posts these on Facebook. His latest one was after his mother told him that Storm troopers (his favorite thing is Star Wars right now) always obeyed orders and most likely also obeyed their mothers. He said, “But mom, clones don’t have mothers!” (Most of the storm troopers in the stories are clones.) When he was smaller he said at the dinner table “It’s okay to eat baby lambs, because they taste good.”

Violet was here for the Christmas holiday with her family. She is still very clingy to her mom, but her smiles and laughs light up the room! She loves to play Peek a Boo and will hide her head on her mom’s shoulder and then peek at you and go “Bwaw!!!”

Sacnite’ and I played board games and I had so much fun with her. She loves to pretend “cheat” and laughs when I catch her.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Really depends on their age. I like to play games with the older two and just watch the younger ones play dress up or read books to them.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Reading, taking a walk, playing with their toys with them. Occasionally watching a movie.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I send interactive e-cards to Micah sometimes. I also write letters. When Micah was into fire trucks, he wanted me to send him photos of different kinds of trucks by e-mail. He doesn’t like to talk on the phone and they don’t have video capability at present. As I said earlier, I talk with Sacnite’ on Facebook Video and sometimes to her mom and the baby on Skype.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That life can be fun, there are interesting things everywhere, that reading is important.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Knowing what my limits are. There are reasons most people have their children in their 20’s and 30’s! I can do 4-6 hours pretty easily, but if the child needs to stay overnight, it’s very tiring for me if they stay too long the next day unless I’ve prepared for it.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? When agreeing to keep your grandchild, get specific information about parents’ wishes and the time they plan to pick up the child. Keep toys and books at your home—of course you can lend them, but have enough for spontaneous visits.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? I have a blog that I work on intermittently. I tend to go in spurts and starts. Before I was working full time, I had designed my own website and loved taking care of it. My current blog is mostly about art that I make, but I’ve lately started just writing thoughts as well. The URL is: http://angeltnart.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: Vonda

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 Vonda:

How many children do you have? I have 5 kids.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have 11 grandkids, ages 14, 12, 11, 8, 6, 5, 4, 4, 2, 2 & one lives in Heaven.

Any great grandchildren? Not yet.

What do your grandchildren call you? Just grama, I'm the pajama grama cause I get everyone their favorite cartoon pj's for Christmas.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Not enough! 4 about weekly, 6 about 2-3 times a year.

Beyond the initial elation, what most concerned you upon hearing you'd soon be a grandma? That I wouldn't get to see them often enough.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? I don't have to say no! (It bugs their parents but I love it!)

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Keeping my mouth shut when I'd really like to 'express' my opinion.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.  When the 5 year old was teaching me how to put lipstick on & she said I could put 1 color on top lip & a different one on the bottom lip.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? To see how they love it when I have a new coloring book & new box of crayons & we color together.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Have them show me stuff they are doing.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Computer.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I hope they will grow up being non judgemental & have good self esteem.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I think I would try harder to be involved in their lives through letters, internet and traveling.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Just smile at the parents when you wish you could scream at them. :)

Do you have a website or blog? I just started one called Innocent & Mischievous: Grandma Style.

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: Cherry

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 Cherry:

How many children do you have? I have 2 adult children from my first marriage, and 2 step children (whom I do not know) from my current marriage.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have 3 grandchildren: Brandon age 9, Katie age 6, and Josslyn, soon to be 8.

Any great grandchildren? None

What do your grandchildren call you? They all call me Grannie.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? My greatest concern was knowing I'd NOT be able to be as Constant in their lives as their parents’ grandparents were in theirs.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Definitely not as often as I'd like. Brandon and his sister Katie are 'Army' brats, and currently with their Mom and Dad in GTMO Cuba. Josslyn lives in Wisconsin with her Mom and Dad.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Being able to love the grandkids as unconditionally as I loved their parents.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Disipline, boundaries... Having to remember that I am the Grannie, not the Mommy.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. It's been a while since I was with any of them, but anytime we are together there is always cause for laughing out loud.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Sadly because of the distance thing, they do not get to visit, 'yet'... but soon they will all be old enough to travel without 'parental' supervision... then it will be Game On.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Read with them, watch their favorite movies or just hang out.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? E-mails thru their parents and SKYPE when available.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? A sense of belonging... Family roots, and of course unconditional love.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I wish I'd learned how hard it was going to be to miss all the milestones. It is so hard not getting to see them as much as one would want.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Love 'em all the time... and take pictures of you with them.... I regret that I do not have pictures of myself and the grandkids. When we are together, we spend quality time together and I forget to take pictures.

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: Kaye

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 Kaye:

How many children do you have? 3

How many grandchildren? What are their ages?  11 blessings — They range in age from 1 year on up to 14 with most between 4 and 10.

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? Mostly Grandma

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother?  What to have them call me — as they have several grandparents. We ended up with adding our names to differentiate — i.e. Grandma Kaye.

Kaye's mom and oldest grandson gardening.How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I see half several times a week as I am their granny nanny, meaning I babysit them a lot. The other half live several states away so it varies from 1-3 times per year.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Sharing the love of Jesus with them — not to mention all the hugs and cuddles.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Balancing everything. I am also caring for elderly parents and there can be a lot of appointments, health needs, etc. at both ends of the age spectrum. Juggling is one of the skills I’m constantly utilizing in the Sandwich Generation.

Self portraits made by grandkids.Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. We do a lot of laughing, especially when playing games together. We’ve recently started a new game where they swing and I toss one of their soft plastic balls at their feet. They then try to kick it up and I try to catch it. Those balls can really go in crazy directions and by the end of the game, we’re all laughing our heads off.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Lots of games — offline like checkers and chess, as well as online with Webkinz stuffed & virtual animals. We also love easy crafts for the kids (and seniors). These are all great ways to keep little hands busy in a positive way and create lovely and lasting family memories. I also have their Razor scooters in my garage and we enjoy going around the block on those, sometimes with their great-grandmother joining us.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? For both sets of grandkids — I bring the games and easy crafts with me. For the near-by grandkids, we have a great time playing “ball tag” in their back yard (throwing soft plastic balls at each other to “tag” a person. It’s easier than the traditional Tag — nice for them AND me). For the long distance grandkids, we often enjoy fun family field trips like the one we took to an apple orchard this fall.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Phone calls, email, and keeping them updated with their Webkinz stuffed animals so we can also play games together on the Webkinz website while chatting about it on the phone. It’s a lot of fun.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? To know and love God! One of my primary goals in life is leaving a sweet spiritual legacy in their hearts and lives — and I’m always looking for ways to do that — from singing praise and worship music together to doing fun holiday projects, like Advent activities, for and with the kids with the primary focus on Jesus. I also love sharing encouraging Bible memory verses with them throughout the year — whether we are working on their Awana verses or on the verses and pictures I post at SandwichINK.

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

Tootsie of the youngest.What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent?  I wish I'd taken a practical nursing class — it would definitely come in handy — both as a grandma AND an eldercare giver

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? My best tip for those who have lots of grandparent competition and need more cuddle time is to volunteer to change the diapers. You’ll usually have a bit less competition and get LOTS of extra one-on-one time with the cutie pies. AND it’s a sweet help for the parents so it’s a triple blessing all around.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? I do. I write for and about the Sandwich Generation — those juggling the multigenerational issues of caring for the elderly parents and relatives in your family while still raising children or, as in my case, babysitting the grandchildren. My primary site is http://www.SandwichINK.com.

You can also find me at:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SandwichINK

Google Plus - http://www.sandwichINK.com/at-google-plus

Twitter - http://www.Twitter.com/SandwichINK

Among other sites :)

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: Linda

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 Linda:

How many children do you have? I am blessed to have four children—two of mine and two of my hubby’s.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We have two amazing grandchildren: Jaxon is 3 ½ and Makiya will be three in January.

Any great grandchildren? Not yet!

What do your grandchildren call you? When my granddaughter was just learning to talk she used to call me “Mama” but now I’m Grandma to both of them.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Concern? I suppose the only concern is that I live too far away from them. We hope to remedy that in a couple of years when we retire though.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Not often enough! I try to see them every couple of months. They grow and change so quickly I hate to miss any more than I have to while we’re living so far away.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Oh my, I’m not sure how to answer that. Being a grandma is the greatest joy in my life! I love getting down on the floor and playing with them, reading to them, snuggling with them, and seeing the world through their young eyes. It’s also a joy to watch my daughter in the role of mommy!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? For now, it’s just the distance between us and that I can’t see them more often. Thank goodness for the miracles of email and Skype!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Just this past summer we had our grandson with us and we set up a big inflatable pool in the backyard. We had a blast watching him play in that pool and, later, running through the sprinkler with Granddad! In the few days he was with us our yard looked like a totally different place than it normally does because it had toys scattered all over. I was in paradise.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I like to read to them. It’s important to me that they grow up with an appreciation for books and reading and they’re both well on the way toward that. Aside from that, any time I’m with them is my favorite time no matter what we are doing.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Skype and phone calls. I love answering my phone and hearing a little voice say “Hi Grandma!” In fact I’ve saved a voice mail that I listen to often. It’s the best cure for a bad day I know of!

One time, a few days after our last visit, my daughter brought her laptop upstairs and let Makiya know we were going to Skype. Her response “Oh, I’ve been waiting for this for days!” tickled my heart.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? As I said I hope they grow up with a love of reading. It’s also important to me that they have a sense of where they fit in this world and history and legacy is also important.

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? Hmmm. In the beginning I was worried they wouldn’t know I was their grandma because I didn’t get to see them every day. That was something I needn’t have been concerned about.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy! Spend as much time with them as possible! It’s the best experience in the world!

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? Yes, I have a blog called A Slice of Life Writing where I write about a variety of topics ranging from adoption (I am an adoptee), memoir writing, family, gardening, life in general, and of course grandchildren. 

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!