Grilled Grandma: Kelli

How many children do you have? I have five children ranging in age from two to 25.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have one grandson, Aloysius. He's eight months old.

Any great grandchildren? No.

What do your grandchildren call you? My grandbaby is too young to name me just yet, but his parents refer to me as "Grandma". I'm a young grandmother who is still searching for a special name. I've thought about having Aloysius call me "Meme".

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? I was worried about how I'd find enough time and energy to fully enjoy my grandbaby while also caring for my then one year old and set of four year old twins. (I didn't want to miss out on anything!) As the due date grew closer, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Then, of course, I worried that I'd be unable to help my son and his wife care for their first child. They'd relocated from Florida to Maine just to be near family when the baby would arrive -- and I was sick and couldn't help.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I see Aloysius about once or twice per week.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing is getting to enjoy my grandson without having the full responsibility of his care. Another best thing is getting to see the joy in my son's eyes when he interacts with his own child.

What is the most challenging part about being a grandma? The most challenging part for me is trying to divide my time and attention between my three young children and my grandson. I feel like I'm missing out on some of the "full grandmother" experience because I'm young and have little ones of my own to care for. I don't want my grandbaby to feel cheated out of "grandma time", too.

Describe a recent time when one(or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh aloud. Aloysius and I share many laughs every time we interact face to face. He loves to play silly with me, and I adore how his whole face lights up when I smile at him.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? I enjoy playing with him and discovering which new milestones he's accomplished when he is at my house.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I really don't go to his house much.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I stay in close contact with my daughter-in-law and she keeps me updated about what's going on with the baby.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Family values and a sense of belonging (in our family).

What is one word you hope your grandchildren to think of when they think of you? Love!

What his one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I'm a fairly new grandmother, but I'd say that it's not necessary to be able to spend a lot of money on one's grandchild. It's time with them that's the most important thing.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy your time with your grandchild, because children grow up so fast. Some of my most cherished childhood memories are about times spent with my grandparents. They always made time for me no matter how busy they were, and I always felt welcome. Make memories!!

Visit Kelli's heartfelt blog, My Breast Cancer Journey.

Grilled Grandma: Deanna

How many children do you have? One

How many grandchildren? Two

What are their ages? 7 and 10

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? Nanny

Other than the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would be a grandmother? The day my grandmother died was the same day I found out I was going to become a Grandmother myself … I cried with sadness one moment and then tears of excitement the next moment … Bitter/sweet.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Once a month.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Everything! No matter what you do, they think you are perfect! Love it!!!!!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Finding the time to travel to another state to see them.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. After my book “Addie's World” was published I sent Adriana a book. She called me after reading it and said, “Nanny, this the best book I have ever read!!!” I burst into laughter and said, “Of course it is, the book is about you!!!!” What a hoot!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? I am a photographer and enjoy dressing them up in old hats, putting antique jewelry on them and doing photo shoots. 

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Taking them out to eat and shopping.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Phone calls and e-mails.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Enough love to last them a life time.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Actually during their earlier visits to our home I thought we needed to take them places continuously to make them happy. I learned later they were content just to be here with us at our home. We wore them out traveling about!!!! Wore myself out as well!!! 

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? ENJOY! ENJOY! ENJOY!!!!!

Deanna’s book, “Addie’s World,” can be found on YouTube, at Barnes & Noble, and on Magic Blox.

Grilled Grandma: Bernice

How many children do you have? I have four children, a son who will be 20 in January, and 3 girls, almost 29, 22, and almost 18.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? My oldest daughter has 6 children! They are 10, 9, 7, 5, 3 and 2! 4 girls and 2 boys. Then my son and his fiancé gave me my newest grandbaby on Labor Day this year, a beautiful baby girl!

Any great grandchildren? Lord, no! I am a young grandma, as I had my oldest daughter when I was 16 and she had her first at 18, so... do the math, lol!

What do your grandchildren call you?  I am affectionately known as Nana.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? The littlest one I get to see once or twice a week as my son still lives here and fiancé and baby come over to visit. The other 6 I get to see once or twice a month. I try my best to plan a family dinner once a month, but it doesn't always work out!

Beyond the initial elation, what most concerned you upon hearing you'd soon be a grandma? My situation was a little different as the circumstances around my becoming a grandma were not the best at the time, however, the situation turned around and I was happy for my daughter.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Getting to love and spoil them... No, truly, I love seeing my children become parents. It is very rewarding!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Only being able to make suggestions of how I think something ought to be done. I like to think I know the best way to do everything. I know ultimately I have to let them make their own decisions about their children!

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My oldest daughter teaches her kids to use anatomically correct terms for their body parts. My 2- and 3-year-old granddaughters love the fact that yelling v-a-g-i-n-a in public gets lots of attention from other people! My daughter just tries to ignore it, otherwise they'll yell all the louder!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? They just love to talk! They tell me about all the cool things they have been doing and reading and learning.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? They like to show me all the stuff they have made at school and the younger ones always want to draw pictures for me.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I talk to some of my grandchildren on the phone occasionally, and now my oldest has a private Facebook page for him to be able to keep up with his extended family out of state. I am lucky that I get to see them fairly often, as opposed to if they lived out of state.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The love for one another and the love of learning. Education may be something that you acquire in school, but learning is a lifetime process. And the confidence to become the person they were meant to be!

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Caring
 
What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? To sit still and listen

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy every minute with them, they grow up faster than your own kids!

Does Bernice have a website or blog? I do! My main blog is Living the Balanced Life. My husband and I also have started a blog to tell about our travel adventures, Empty Nesters Off the Chain!

Grilled Grandma: Gail

How many children do you have?  Two daughters

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Three grandsons, 14, 7 and 2

Any great grandchildren?  No, not that I know about!

What do your grandchildren call you? Nana, when they're nice.

Beyond the initial elation, what most concerned you upon hearing you'd soon be a grandma? My main concern was how was my daughter going to do this...and she didn't.  We are raising the fourteen-year-old.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? One every day, the other two, at least once a week.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Being loved.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Keeping my mouth shut, when the actions of the parents do not comply with my standards.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. One asked, "What is a prostitute?" I had to wallow that around a little and then answered, When a lady makes a gentleman happy for money instead of for fun.  He said, oh, I thought it was a wooden leg!

One grandson told me, You sure read good, Nana!

The two-year-old, is just learning hide and seek and chase is a serious game.  I hid too well, jumped out, and scared him.  He jumped and then laughed with delight and ran like crazy to go hide but the look on his face was priceless.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We paint, we hunt for arrowheads and rocks.  We ride horses. We explore the woods.  We have a favorite thing we do called "rubber booting".  After a rain, the creeks are swollen and the dry ditches are running.  We don our rubber boots and wade and explore.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Don't know, they always come here.  It's more fun At The Farm. I do like to take them on special field trips to places they haven't seen.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I am unforgettable!!!

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Respect for all things, creatures and people, a love of learning, and a sense of adventure.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Fun or funny!

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Not to spend money, it is the special moments that they remember.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Run, hide!!! No, play with them, do what they want to do, introduce them to new experiences and have a ball...they will remember!

Get more grins and giggles – plus some serious stuff, too -- on Gail’s blog:  At the Farm.

Grilled Grandma: Linda

How many children do you have? I put all my eggs in one basket, I have one lovely daughter.

How many grandchildren? Two

What are their ages? One 10-year-old, “old soul,” root-beer-colored-eye granddaughter and one 6-year-old, born on my birthday, sweet-spirited grandson.

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? Oma and the wickediest witch in the world

Beyond the initial elation, what most concerned you upon hearing you'd soon be a grandma? I didn’t know how all the impending changes would impact my daughter’s life. You know I never even thought anything except…goodie, goodie, now I get to play and have a built in excuse.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Well since they and their Mom live with us…every day. They have been back here for 15 months with a 2 year hiatus in the south. Prior to that, they lived about a mile away and I took care of them every day.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Everything. I love it. Best job I had ever had.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Having the kids live here makes for a bump in the road as far as who I am to them. I still maintain my Omaness in far as fun things go but on occasion…I have to be the enforcer and disciplinarian…don’t like that job but not afraid of it either.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My grandson has ADHD, Asperger’s Syndrome and sees the world slightly different than the average bear. He always has a skewed way of talking sometimes. I fix dinner most nights and he and his Sissy are not what I would call good eaters. He wanted to find a way to compliment me (because he is such a sweetie) on something he really didn’t much care for and said, “If this meal had been any better, we could have walked it with the dog”. Huh? Too funny. Now I ask if they think the dog will enjoy the walk when I serve the meal and they both just get so tickled. He also saw a wreath displayed on a holiday arrangement and told us he was the first to see the Christmas Moon this year? He cracks me up. He and his Sis are very happy, funny, and sometimes hilarious kids.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Every Wednesday the kids get out of school early and I take that as our craft day. We love to do arts and crafts. They are both very talented when it comes to sketching and painting so I am always challenged to find something new for them to do that isn’t hum drum.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Same place, except when they have time off school, vacations etc…they both like to bake. So that’s what we do. That and take walks in the mountains looking for signs of wildlife.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? When they did live away in SC, I called twice a week and we used the video camera. That was such a hard time to endure. I really don’t know how folks who aren’t blessed with having their grands close by, do it.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That I will always love them. That nice matters more than they will ever know and that life’s not fair but is a glorious ride. Mean people suck but you can ignore or laugh at their ignorance and that irreverence, in the right context, is the only way to roll.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Life is terminal not serious.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? It is more special, deeper, richer and more intense than anything you have ever felt before and hold on for the ride. This kind of love is so precious it should be bottled and given to every soul on the planet…all problems would simply disappear. That is the power of this love.

Want more Grilled Grandma Linda? Visit her at her blog, Olde Baggs 'n Stuft Shirts.