Grilled Grandma: Anne

How many children do you have? 3

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? 4 – 17 and 15 in one family, 3 and 5 in the other

Any great grandchildren? No

What do your grandchildren call you? Nanna

Other than the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would be a grandmother? I fell in love at a level I didn’t know I was capable of so moving near the first one was critical.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Not nearly often as much.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Get to hand them back – that’s true, but the sense of continuation is great too, so is having a different kind of time (more of it) to watch and enjoy their development.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Spending enough time with them.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Hmm, not laughter, but when my eldest grandkid showed me a coffee-table book with World Of Warcraft pix and described the peace community there I was not only impressed, but grateful for an insight into a world I’ll probably never understand.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? The computer for the teenagers, the cat for the youngest girl, and her brother seems happy to hang out.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Oh see what they’re up to, their art, their books, their garden – what they are doing or interested in or want to talk about.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Instant messaging with one, phone calls, and we just know we’re connected.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Compassion and a love of life.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? One already calls me the “cool” grandma – that works.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? To be a bit more insistent about visits etc.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Trust yourself.

Prolific Anne maintains two blog: WhenGrandmotherSpeaks – “not about grandparenting but about life” – and AboutFreelanceWriting.com. I urge you to visit both!

Grilled GrandPA: John

How many children do you have? Two. A daughter and a son, both in their thirties.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? My son has three faster than lightning, more devious than supervillians, keep you on your toes all day boys - aged five, ten, and twelve.

Any great grandchildren? I hope not.

What do your grandchildren call you? Generally, I'm called Grampy. Sometimes I get Grampo or Grampopotumus. The oldest has started calling me by my first name - in French!

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandfather? Initial elation? I must have missed that memo. Unfortunately, Brandon was not conceived from a happy union. An unintended birth from two parents who were ill prepared children themselves, they had no chance of a successful relationship and were already headed for the rocks by the day he was born. Dread and apprehension were heavy in the air that year.

However, the moment I clapped eyes on that hour-old boy, I drifted into a different lane. I fell like a ton of bricks in love with him and vowed to his wrinkled little red face that I would always be there for him no matter what. Twelve years later, I have yet to break that promise.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? They all live with us so I see them constantly. If I could just get them to stop reading over my shoulder and breathing so close I can practically taste their breakfast life might be a bit easier. When they lived with their mother I saw them at least once a week until she and our son finally got divorced and we had to sue for grandparents visitation rights. That was a trip I don't wish on another living soul.

What is the best thing about being a grandpa? I've never had a moment's hesitation about spending as much time and energy as I can with these boys. We've been best friends, sharing and experiencing the world around us. I love to watch the developmental awareness spread across their faces as something important occurs to them that they couldn't possibly conceive of the day before: standing on their own feet, understanding the subtlety of a joke, realizing the world is round and what that signifies, etc.. I know that it will end all too soon and they'll be off in a world and life of their own but while it's mine, I live for it.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandpa? Teaching the need for honesty and trust is an incredible challenge because children don't come by it naturally. Lately, I get tired more easily and can't run around and do the fun and games so much. But we find other ways to communicate.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. They make me laugh every day. I work hard at teaching them to have a sense of humor so they all make jokes and find the funny side of things, even the five year old.

For instance, he is just learning to read on his own and still has trouble pronouncing. But last week he stumbled through an entire picture book using a southern accent! (One of the many I put on when I read to him). It was hilarious and he had a great time doing it.

They all tell jokes that they make up.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Send them downstairs to their own apartment (jk, lol - as they say). Seriously, it has evolved because they live with us now. We used to go adventuring on bikes and climb trees. Not so much of that these days because I'm the primary caregiver and feeling a bit older. Now I help with homework, take them out places and we talk. Good talk with kids is underrated. It's not something you can do without practice. If you want to learn something about children, you can't ask them outright unless you already have a working conversation going with them. They need to know you've been listening all along.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? When I did visit their house, I'd usually take them out somewhere. The local library, donut shop, park/playground. We'd play cards, run around the jungle jim, make up adventures and songs.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I don't like the phone with small children. Conversations seemed pointless and forced. Often my letters wouldn't get to them, either, because their mom wouldn't deliver them, so we had little or no contact between visits. Since they didn't expect any and we saw each other often, it was okay. The only times it got difficult was when their mom and her parents refused visits during her marital problems. The longest that ever lasted was a summer.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Trust, self respect and a sense of humor. There's too little of these things in our dysfunctional world. Self-esteem is not the same as ego although many people confuse the two.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Kindness and laughter. That's two words. You pick which one to edit out :) <Editor’s note: I don’t edit these except for spelling and formatting. :o)>

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? This is a tough question. Not to say I haven't made mistakes but the learning curve was so tight on this bumpy, pot holed road that there wasn't a moment's leisure time to think things through and make better choices. The rug was constantly shifting under the kid's feet. Frankly, I wish their parents were normal, middle class people who held down jobs, were sane, and raised their kids in their own home. Then I could have been a bossy, crotchety granddad who was constantly at their door with attitude and unsolicited advice that they wished I'd left at home.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandpa? Grandparenting is a long haul. Pace yourself, have patience, things work out through time more than they do from short term efforts. Many new grandparents are afraid the kids won't know them or love them or any number of things but through time they'll see who you are in ways you never expect. They absorb and formulate opinions and ideas of their own just like adults do.

John's three must-see blogs: www.johnlunn.com - a homepage that leads to my writing and author visits, flutemaking and jewelry work, and video animation, too; grampyslittleacre.blogspot.com - my grandparenting blog; and planckscaleblog.blogspot.com - my thoughts on science and science fiction.

Grilled Grandma: Jules

How many children do you have? We have two. Our daughter, Tracy, is 26 and our son, Andy, is 24.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We have three grandchildren. Tracy and her husband have Felicity (2 1/2) and Hadalye (6 months). Andy and his wife have Jack (1 year old on March 4th).

Any great grandchildren? Oh noooooooo.

What do your grandchildren call you? There's a little story here. When my daughter got pregnant my first reaction was.....I'm too young to be called Grandma! I decided that my grandchildren would call me GG, which stands for Gorgeous Grandma. Hehehe. I didn't actually come up with this, I heard another young grandma call herself this and thought it was cute.
 
Other than the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would be a grandmother? I honestly didn't have any concerns, just unbelief that I was actually going to have a grandchild. Then the long wait began. It seemed like forever until the first one was born. Then before I knew it, we had three.
 
How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Since we all have homes on the same 100 acres, I am fortunate to see them every day. I am so blessed to have them so close.
 
What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing about being a grandma is in their eyes I am soooo cool.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? The most challenging part for me is not giving in to their every command. For the "serious" things I stand strong. But for those little things that it really doesn't matter GG let's them do/have it.
 
Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Each of them makes me laugh in their own way. Hadalye has the biggest smile ever and I can't help but smile back at her. Jack makes the funniest faces. He squishes up his little pug nose and laughs. He cracks me up every time. Felicity says the funniest things. Sometimes I know what she is saying but keep asking her to repeat herself just because the way she says it makes me laugh.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? My favorite time with them is snuggle time in the rocker. I realize that they won't let me do that for long so I take advantage of every moment I get to rock them.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I love when Felicity has new things to show me in her room. With her it's usually not a new toy but new clothes. At Christmas time we would ask her what she's getting and her response was, "socks, undies and tank tops."  She has more clothes and shoes than Oprah.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We really don't have too much of "between visits" time. I recently was gone for a week and a half and we got to Skype with them. They are getting pretty good at Skype since both their Daddies are truck drivers and that's how they keep in touch.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? How about two words: Unconditional Love

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I've only been a grandparent for two and a half years so I probably haven't learned those lessons yet. Give me a few more years and I'm sure there will be much more I have learned about being a grandma.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Savor every minute with them, they grow up way too fast. When I look back I realize how fast our own children have grown up. It seems that with grandchildren time goes by even faster.
 
Head on over to Little Houses in the Village, where Jules blogs about "sharing 100 acres with my family."

Grilled Grandma: Patty

How many children do you have? I have 4 sons, they are spread across the country from Florida to Oregon.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have six grandchildren, three grandsons ages 11, 4, 2 and three granddaughters all age 9 (one set of twins).

Any great grandchildren? Not yet... Honestly I can wait!

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me Nana and my hubby is Poppy.

Other than the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would be a grandmother? I was 36 when I became a grandmother. I worried I was too young, but the moment I held my granddaughter that worry melted away!

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I get to see 4 of the 6 daily. They live within a 2 miles of us. The other 2 live on the east coast and we don’t get to see them as often as I would like.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The hugs! Also my grandchildren seem to think I can do anything. It really does make you feel like a rock star!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? I would say parenting my sons when they don’t need me to. I find on occasion when they are disciplining their children I have put my nose where I shouldn’t have. I work on biting my tongue more often now. They haven’t asked me to, but if someone did that to me I wouldn’t have appreciated it.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Just this morning I built a fire in the stove (I normally save this task for my hubby). Anthony announced “I knew you could do it Nana!” He thinks I can walk on water!

Every Sunday the family gets together for dinner, at the last Sunday dinner the youngest was getting his coat on to leave and went around telling everyone how much he was going to miss them. (He sees us almost every day!)

Another time I went to pick the kids up from play rehearsal and told Karmen (one of the twins) we were going to the movies. Emily (the other twin) was taking her time. When Karmen told her we were going to see Justin Bieber’s movie, Emily went threw the playhouse screaming for her brother to hurry up! It was like someone lit a fire under her. Was really hysterical.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We often make crafts, cook snacks or play board/card games. Every once in a while we even have a dance party! They <were> in a play the first weekend of March, so we started planning a “Mocktail Party” for them after opening night!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? We pretty much do the same things at their home, too. Board/card games and tickle fests!

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I just try to be the safe place. I encourage them to talk to me about anything and everything. Since I see them often, it's not hard to keep that bond.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Family Matters! Appreciate the generations.. That they know I love them more than anything!

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Love - plain and simple I just love my family!

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I met my first grandchild when she was 9 months old. I wish I knew her from day one!

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy the ride! As a parent we need to teach before friendship. As a grandparent we get to just be fun!

Patty says her blog, Nana Poppins, "is my personal blog about my experiences as a stay at home while trying to help my hubby make ends meet for us." She also writes for Squidoo.

Grilled Grandma: Kc

How many children do you have? One amazing daughter named Jenna who is 37. She is a great daughter, wife, Mom, friend and amazing cook!

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? One awesome granddaughter, Amara, who will be 7 in April.

Any great grandchildren? No, but I intend to be here when the time comes and to be healthy enough to enjoy them!

What do your grandchildren call you? When Amara was young she struggled with Apraxia of speech and called me Nama. While I loved that name, I love that she no longer struggles with her speech and can very clearly pronounce Grandma Kc or Grammy when she is being silly!

Other than the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would be a grandmother? My first concern was for my daughter who had previously miscarried. My other fear was – what if it’s a boy? I would have loved one but been completely clueless on what to do with him or even how to change him!

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? LOTS! The kids live one mile away and I know how lucky I am.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? All of it. This is just the best job ever!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Never stepping on Mom or Dad’s authority. It is sometimes difficult when the 3 of us girls are out together but Jenna is very understanding when I do say something and it wasn’t my place.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. The other day I was telling Jenna about a picture I had found of Amara in her Alice in Wonderland costume and how little she was! You sometimes forget how small they really were. Amara overheard this and piped in – “Yes, those were the good old days!” Her mom and I both laughed – good old days and you aren’t even 7 yet!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? This is hard to answer because Amara is just at the age where everything we do together is fun but I would have to say bath time is probably the best! At home, bath time is brief and usually done before bed. But here bath time is in the morning and it can be as long as she wants it to be. She picks out 3 bubble baths to take in with her from her current collection of about 10 and she mixes them and plays chemist and has a wonderful time playing. I have a wonderful time watching her play! It ends in Grandma washing and drying her long hair, which is always fun and all of this is followed by playing princess and dressing up. It is one of our favorite pastimes.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Amara loves it when I come over, which is actually often. She is always excited to show me something new or different in her room. Often times a new book to read or something new she has done at art class.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Amara’s Mommy and I talk on the phone constantly and I often get to talk to Amara or she will ask to talk to me. I’m also lucky. Often times I get to take her to school or pick her up or attend some school function.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Memories. She loves hearing stories about when I was young, or her Mom was young or when she was young – especially stories about Mommy. I like telling her about the people she will never get to meet, like my Dad and my grandparents.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? That the housework will wait. Now I enjoy every moment that I can with her. The dishes will still be there but you can never get the moments back that you wasted doing them when you could have been playing with her!

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Buy a good digital camera and start a Blog! It is a wonderful way to document all of the memories and to share them with family and friends. I wish I had started Amara’s when she was a baby.

Kc's lovely blog, Grandma Kc's Life in Amaraland, is, in her words, "a personal journal of all the fun we have being Amara's grandparents."