Grilled Grandma: Kaye

How many children do you have? Five

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Six—Baby Hiccup-6 months, Little Bear-5, Sweetings-5, Yummy-7, Honey-9, Big Bear-12
 
Any great grandchildren? no
 
What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma Kaye
 
Other than the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would be a grandmother? I was thrilled, I love babies.
 
How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I babysit Little Bear every day while momma works, Big Bear comes after school. Baby hiccup comes 3 times a week for a couple of hours while momma teaches piano lessons. I also tend Sweetings three or more times a week, momma doesn’t work but she volunteers with the PTA so much it could be a full time job. I see Yummy, and Honey after school and the occasional weekend sleepover. They all try to give me Saturday’s off so I can catch up on my work.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The hugs and kisses—and actually I love the noise and the messes.
 
What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? I get tired—by the end of the day I am worn out!
 
Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. They are always so funny—the most recent, Baby Hiccup grinning and waving bye bye to grandma.
 
What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Listen to them—they are so funny. They have each other to play with so they mostly ask me to get them this or get them that. I like to read, cuddle, sew, shop and visit great grandma. I like to listen to them as they “show and tell”. I like to buy them ice cream. I like to watch them play with their grandpa. I like to sit outside and watch them play. I love taking them camping or to a movie, or some place special they don’t usually get to go. I spend a lot of time watching ball games too (not my favorite thing to do).
 
What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I don’t usually visit them at their homes—I’m usually gathering them up to come home with me.
 
How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? They call me on the phone all the time!!!! You just saw me already, give me a break!!!!
 
What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I just want them to remember that I loved them. Last year I read a book called “Curly Grandma’s Letters”. It’s a novel concept about preserving your history by writing letters to your grandchildren. I’ve been writing to them for a year now. Even though they see me all the time this has been fun for them. First they get a letter in the mailbox and second they think my letters are funny. I’ve enjoyed the letters they send back and the excitement when they tell me about their letters. Yummy has her letters tucked in a keepsake box. When Big Bear read Little Bear’s first letter he laughed and laughed. I found it kind of exciting to hear him telling others about the story I had written. I think it is a good idea. They might not remember a lot about me but these little letters might help them know a few things about me that they might not have known otherwise. Here is the link to my first letter, http://ladygaladrielkj.blogspot.com/2010/10/book-review-curly-grandmas-letters.html.

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 haven’t really had any regrets—I’ve just enjoy every minute the kids let me have with the grandkids. I just try to respect them as parents and let them know I’m here when they need me. I had a wonderful mother and mother-in-law that did the same for me.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy every moment and appreciate every minute you have with the kids.
 
Take a moment and stop by Kaye's enchanting blog, The road goes ever ever on.

Grilled Grandma: Penny

How many children do you have? Four

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Three of the cutest varmints ever; the Bug is 7; the Worm is 5, and the Mouse is 15 mo.

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Unfortunately, the condition of the world, and how scary it is to have children in this day and age.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Once or twice a week

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Can be the total “Disneyland Grandma” and not feel guilty. And that they never doubt my love for them, nor their love for me.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Just the right blend of input, without stepping on anyone’s toes.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My grandchildren were helping me with a garage sale a few weeks ago. I told them to make signs to attract customers. The 7 year old, taped a sign on an old door I was selling. “$7.00 – cough up the cash.” We sold it, and he earned $1 for advertising.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? They love to play made-up games. Sometimes we plan a zoo and have to name the male, female, and baby of the species. Sometimes we play detective and have to interview Grandpa to find something he’s lost recently. We build obstacle courses and time each other.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? We’ve built tents in their rooms and had pretend campouts. We generally play board games.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? There’s not much time in between, but we sometimes talk on the phone.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Love of and importance of family.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I have always felt with my own children, patience escaped me. I vowed I would do better with my grandchildren and I think I have, but I still have my moments of times when I am less patient – when I recently wanted my grandson to learn to ride a bike and he had no interest. Incidentally, he won. You can’t drive a horse to water or a kid to balance. J

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? To take advantage of every moment.

Just in case you didn't figure it out from this grilling, Grandma Penny has one heckuva sense of humor. Need more proof? Visit her blog, So Humor Me, for chuckles galore.

Grilled Grandma: Lisa

How many children do you have? We are a blended family and we have 5 sons. Randy is 30, both Chris and Nick are 26, Matt is 23 and Andrew is 19.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We are blessed with two little girls, Grace is 3 and 1/2 and Adia is 1 and 1/2

Any great grandchildren? Gosh No!! Not yet!

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma Lisa and Grandma

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother?  We had a scare with an initial blood test early on in the pregnancy, but thankfully all was okay! That was my only initial concern.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Thankfully they live only a few miles from us, so we get to see them frequently!

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Hearing the words, "I love you so much, Grandma"! Seeing their happy faces when they pull up to the house, when the one year old throws kisses in the air to me, baking Christmas cookies together. Spending time with my daughter-in-law and the girls, she is the best mommy ever! I can go on and on here!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? I think it is seeing them sick and not feeling well.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. They make us laugh so much. Grace loves to sweep the kitchen and recently she opened up the pantry and said, "Grandma, you missed a spot, I will clean it for you!", sure enough there were some dust bunnies behind the pantry door! Adia made us laugh the other night when we turned on the Wii and put in the Zumba disc, she started dancing all over the place to some salsa music. Thought that was adorable.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? When the weather is nice they love to play outside with the horse, cats and dogs, when it is rainy we stay inside and read books, draw and watch old Disney movies! We can't wait to take them to Disney and to visit the beaches in Florida and Puerto Rico.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Reading to them, playing hide and go seek, putting together puzzles and making them laugh!

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits?  We talk on the phone, send silly messages via email and send links to some fun video books they can sing along to.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? After having 5 sons, I am looking forward to teaching them how to sew and cook.

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

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Don't wait for the invitation to go see them.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Have fun, always respect the wishes of the parents regarding rules and their parenting skills and leave the disciplining to them!

Do you have a website or blog? Yes, my blog is: I Am All A Twitter About Life!  and my website is: http://lisaladrido.myvi.net/challenge

Grilled Grandma: Mary

How many children do you have? 4

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have 4 grandchildren.  
David 8
Sarah 7
Ann 7
Kyla 6

Any great grandchildren? 0

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? My first concern was spend enough time with my new grandparent and bonding with them because my children live across the country from me.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Three to four times a year.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The hugs and kisses from my grandchildren.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Knowing that when I visit them I will have to say goodbye.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My granddaughter Kyla recently put on her mother's high heels and evening dress and was prancing through the house singing at the top of her lungs oblivious to the fact of how funny it looked to us adults.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We love going for walks, going to the park and stopping for ice cream cones.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I love to take them out for an "outing" and give their parents a break and time to spend together.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I try to talk to them on the phone as much as possible.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? That I love them unconditionally and that I want them to do pursue whatever they dream to be possible.

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? I want to treasure every moment with them as the time I spend with them seems to short.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? I advise a new grandma to do whatever you can to be there to help support both your children and your grandchildren.

Do you have a website or blog? I have a website that I work on as a co-editor promoting senior lifestyle activities and interest as well as a helpful review on medical alert systems.  Unfortunately I do not have a web site devoted to my grandchildren.

Grilled Grandma: Maryann

How many children do you have? I have two beautiful daughters.

How many grandchildren? Two loveable little grandchildren who I love to spoil!

What are their ages? My oldest grandson Zachary is 6 and my youngest grandson Carter is 3.

Any great grandchildren? Thank goodness NO at this point.

What do your grandchildren call you? My grandchildren call me NONA which is Italian for grandmother.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Probably my first concern was that my daughter and her husband would be okay money wise with the baby. They were only married a short time before my daughter got pregnant.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I am very blessed that my grandchildren live right here in the same state and only 90 minutes away. I try to see them at least once every two weeks if not every week. I would move in with them if I could! LOL!

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing about being a grandma is that I can spend as much time as I want with them and not have to worry about schedules or what I need to get done around the house. They have my undivided attention. I can be relaxed and enjoy the time we spend together. Plus, I can act like a kid with them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Probably the most challenging part of being a grandma is that I want to be with them ALL the time but know that's not possible.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. My grandchildren are always saying or doing something that makes me laugh. Most recently, while in church for Easter, my 3-year-old grandson was listening to the pastor speak about Jesus (this surprised us that he WAS listening!). The Pastor mentioned that Jesus died for our sins. My youngest grandson turned to his mother and shouted, "Jesus DIED???!!! When did THAT happen??" Of course, we were all trying to stop from laughing out loud.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Our favorite thing to do is walk on the beach and look at all the sea creatures, starfish, crabs and find pretty rocks and shells. We also like to play games, read, do crafts, make popcorn and watch movies, camp (in our bedroom) where the boys sleep in a tent we set up in our bedroom.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I usually bring something for us to do like kites to fly or a craft to do together. We'll play football, basketball, baseball, swing, go to the park. We also like to play TAG which is so much fun with them. The laughter is priceless.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We talk on the phone and I'll send them little messages in the mail.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Kindness for others, thoughtfulness for everyone and to be earth conscious, taking care of the wild life and nature. That we love them no matter what! Practice will help you learn something better and that they can be whatever they dream.

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? One thing I wish I learned earlier is probably how time flies when you're having fun. It's so difficult to think that my oldest grandson is almost 7 and my youngest is 3!

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy and savor every single minute as much as you can because it will go by quickly. Also, enjoy being a kid again!

Maryann has a blog, Nona's Notes — For Your Health, and a website, Work At Home United. Do visit both!