Grilled Grandma: Ellen

How many children do you have? 2 - one girl, one boy

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? 4 - boy 13, twin girls 12, girl 9

Any great grandchildren? no

What do your grandchildren call you? Granny

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I used to see them every day or nearly every day since they lived next door to us for 12 years. Now that we have moved out of the city I don't see them nearly that often. Sometimes once or several days a week if we are in town for some work or weeks may go by before we are in town again. We do have them out for weekends and they each get a week all to themselves during the summer. Not having the g'kids next door was the hardest part about moving.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Not having to parent them, just love and spoil them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Holding my tongue when I don't agree with the way they are being parented.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Oh I don't know, I don't usually remember stuff like that. There was the time the twins were on either side of me pointing out all the hair on my chin (it wasn't that bad!) and they thought that was gross. I laughed and told them I thought so too and that one day it would happen to them too. Oh no, they cried, not me. You'll see, I told them.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We like to do 'projects'. Little craft activities. This summer we made dream catchers and surprise balls, I taught two of the girls to sew, the other to crochet. We fly kites. We cook. We go to a second hand shop and poke around. Go to the movie.

   

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Get them out of the house (their house is very small). Take them somewhere or just go for a walk around the neighborhood.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Phone calls and email. But really, we don't usually go for more than a couple of weeks at the most between visits.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? A love of and respect for nature.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Loved (as in 'I am loved by her.')

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Get down on the floor and play with them. Always have an ample supply of crayons, markers, colored pencils, paint and paper on hand and be prepared for messy. Accumulate a big box of play clothes. Let them do things their parents won't (with proper supervision of course).

Get further inside Ellen’s head by visiting her blog, appropriately titled Stuff From Ellen's Head.

Grilled Grandma: Janet

How many children do you have? We have two sons, Michael 34 and Adam 32.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We have eight grandchildren, Matthew 12, Courtney 11, Tyler 10, Jace 9, Ashton 7, Tucker 6, Ben 5 and Camdyn is 4.

Any great grandchildren? Not yet.

What do your grandchildren call you? They call us Pop and Nana.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? We see Tucker and Ben everyday since we have had custody of them since May 2008. The other grandchildren most days when I am needed at the school for parties or to eat lunch with them. They also come to the house while dad is working.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The loving these little children give me. I have never had so many hugs, kisses and I love yous from so many little people.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Raising the two we have custody of while my lupus is out of remission.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Just yesterday Ben celebrated his 5th birthday. When someone would tell him Happy Birthday he would tell them Happy Birthday back instead of thank you. Then he said, oh, I forgot it was my Birthday. We have been celebrating the other grandchildren's birthdays since September it was hard for Ben to keep up who's was next.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house?  Bake homemade cookies.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Have a conversation with them. The children these days are really smart and have a lot to say, either that or I just didn't listen to closely to my own children when they were growing.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? To soak in as much knowledge as they can while they can.

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? To not turn down when one asks to sleep over no matter how tired I am.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Give out lots of hugs and kisses.

Take a peek at Janet’s blog, Nana’s Sweeties, where you’ll find lots of stories, lots of photos, lots of love.

Grilled Grandma: Connie

How many children do you have? I have 8 children ranging in ages from 35 to 19. Four of them have children. The other four will have children soon!

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have 10 grandchildren, 7 girls and 3 boys. The oldest is 8, there are three 5-year-olds, four 3-year-olds, a 2-year-old and a sweet 7-month-old.

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me Gwamma, until they can say their Rs then it's Gramma. Some add more to that name. I'm Gramma Connie or Gramma with the white hair! It's always good to be reminded of my age!

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? We all live in the same county. Some I may see twice a week, others once a week, and depending on how busy we all are, it could be a couple of weeks before I see some.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing is being able to enjoy and love my grandchildren without having to enjoy and love them 24 hours a day! I'm not as young as I used to be and I truly admire my daughters and daughter-in-law for all they do to care for my grandkids.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? The most challenging for me is working full time and not being available to go to all their activities.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Almost every time I'm with my grandchildren, I laugh out loud.  One time that comes to mind is when 5 of my grandkids sang a song and danced at their uncle's wedding luncheon. It was very cute and comical.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We all like to play on the trampoline when it's good weather.  When we're in the house, we play games. One of the board games we like to play is called, "Going to Grandma's House". We play that 2 or 3 times with each visit and it's getting worn out! I'm the Mancala Queen and since my kids won't play that game with me any more, I'm schooling my oldest grandkids so we can have some real strategizing competition! They're almost there.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? We like reading books, singing, and dancing.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Usually with a phone call or just checking up on them through their parents.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? You don't need to be rich to be generous. You can give of your time, talents, and love. Never forget that you are a child of God and with that comes many blessings.
 
What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? There are many things I hope to be remembered by, but if I have to choose only one, it would be fun-LOVE-ing. (Heavy on the love)
 
What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I really can't think of anything. I had good examples of grandparenting from my own parents and I'm learning as I go along.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Cherish the journey of grandmothering. You never know when your health or time may prevent you from enjoying the grandchildren.

Take some time to get to know Connie and her family better by visiting her charming blog, I Started Out as a Child.

Grilled Grandma: Vicki

How many children do you have? We have two children plus their spouses; our daughter Katy and her husband Travis and our son Nick and his wife Marie. I consider them all my kids.

How many grandchildren? We have one granddaughter, Ezra, affectionately known as “Our Little Princess.”  Our second grandchild is due in April.

What are their ages? She’s 19 months old.

Any great grandchildren? No.

What do your grandchildren call you? The plan was for her to call me “Grams.” Right now, it comes out as “Mams” which is fine with me. I don’t really care what she calls me.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? We make it a point to see her at least once a month. We live about 2½ hours apart. If I haven’t seen her in a month, the next Saturday I drive to San Antonio.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? I get a huge kick out of seeing how much like her mother she is. It’s like I get to relive my own kid’s childhood without the responsibility.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? For me it’s the feeling of competition to “keep up” with the other grandparents. It would be very easy for it to turn uncomfortably competitive.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My husband has a game he plays with her where he walks his fingers towards her and tickles her. Last night she was trying to do the same thing to him through the webcam.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? I love to walk around the neighborhood with her and visit the neighbors. We’ve known most of the neighbors for years. They watched her mom grow up and are so delighted when she visits.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I love to be the one who puts her to bed. I give her a bath, read her a book, and then sit in her room and read my own book until she falls asleep.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? The webcam is a godsend for this. We talk to her at least once a week. My daughter says that when she asks baby if she wants to talk to Grams and Pop-pop, she immediately stops what she’s doing, squeals with delight, and runs to the computer.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I want them to have a strong sense of family and to know that my love for them is unconditional.  My practical advice for kids is always … if you wouldn’t want to tell your mom about it, you probably shouldn’t do it. I plan to pass that advice along as they get older. I think the world would be a better place if we measured all our actions by that yardstick.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? This is probably the toughest of all your “Grilled Grandma” questions. How do you condense all the hopes and dreams you have for your family into one word? But if I have to choose one, I’ll go with “beloved.” I want them to know that they are my beloved and I hope to be theirs.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Be sensitive to what the new parents need from you. Help as much as they’ll let you. I didn’t want to overstep and wanted to give their new family some privacy, so I came home just a couple days after they got out of the hospital. It was only a day or so before my daughter called and asked me to come back. I stayed another week and took the early morning shift with the baby and took over all the cooking. It gave my daughter time to recuperate and I got to bond with the baby right away.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Just share what you love with your grandchildren. For us, it’s reading. I love, love, love to read to her and she loves it too. It’s something special we share every time we’re together.

You'll find more grandma ideas -- and delectable recipes -- on Vicki's blog, Grams Made It.

Grilled Grandma: Laura

How many children do you have? I have five children: Holly- age 23, Zoë- age 18, Abigael- age 17, Jodie- age 14 and Daniel- age 8. I also have a new son (in law)- Ben

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I am enjoying right now one grand child, Hazel age 28 months

Any great grandchildren? no

What do your grandchildren call you? When Hazel was born there was quite the discussion amongst family, friends and my readers over what my name should be for my grandbaby. I decided to just wait and see what Hazel would call me. When she was around 18 months or so she named me "Mi-Ma". I like it. I like it a lot because it is her name for me and because she calls her other grandmother "grandma". Actually she calls any woman who looks older than me "grandma". LOL

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Every day. My husband and I have been the primary caregivers for Hazel when her mama is working. Just this last August, Hazel and her parents moved in with us while they save a little money hopefully to get a home of their own.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? I feel like I get a do-over of sorts. Hazel is pretty much a clone of her mama at that age. Time and wisdom has given me a lot of understanding of who this child of mine was and is and who her child is. They both are everything I wanted to be when I was a child: very strong forces of nature. I have grown closer to my first born daughter whom I have spent most of her life butting heads with...and I get to see the "mother's curse" I put upon Holly during her stormy adolescence come true just a little...the one where we tell our children that they will grow up to have kids just like them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? The fact that I am still raising children of my own. My 8 year old is very proud of his status as Uncle Dan but at the same time he is mindful of the fact that she is treated perhaps a little bit differently than he is. It helps that I dealt with that when my first born was growing up as my father and his wife were raising my youngest sister who is several months younger than Holly is. I am reminded of how challenging it was for my little sister so I try to be sensitive to how my young son feels.

The second most challenging thing has to be sharing her with her other Grandma. I'm not very good at sharing. Kind of ironic since I am the first born of six and have a large family of my own.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. After her Auntie Zoë came home from college for a visit and to introduce her boyfriend to the family. Hazel was absolutely enamored with him. Now almost everyday she begs for me to skype so she can talk to Josh...and after a long pause she will add "and Zoë too.".

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Hazel loves to dance so we dance all the time. There is a lot of "sashaying" going on around here under the Big Top.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? From the time before she was born, when her mama came to us to tell us that she was alone and pregnant and wanting to have her baby, I promised that no matter what Hazel would always be surrounded by the love of her very large family and will always know how loved she is by so many. This last year her family circle expanded greatly as her mama married the love of her life, Ben, who happens to come from an equally large family who loves Hazel just as much as we do.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? To trust her mama more. She is a GREAT mama and has been from the very start. But just like me 24 years ago, she is learning as she goes and I believe that is part of the journey that is motherhood.

 

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Relax and just enjoy, this truly is the fun part of parenting.

Do you have a website or blog? I have been blogging at Adventures In Juggling for almost six years now.