Grilled Grandma: Gwen

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 (and ever so goofy) Grandma Gwen:

How many children do you have? I have three perfectly imperfect, outrageously talented, uniquely incredible children, and two equally amazing children by said children's matrimonial choices.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? One boy 8, one girl 5 (both gifts from my daughter and her husband).

Any great grandchildren? ZERO

What do your grandchildren call you? I'm NEE NEE

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Mirror, mirror on the wall—I am my mother after-all.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? As much as possible—they live in town

What is the best thing about being a grandma? Being a grandma erases all the fear and concern that you used to have about being a grandmother.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? It's always a challenge when I see them, to remember to say hello to my daughter too.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. The grown-ups were talking about how everyone has lost something in this economy when my granddaughter chirped up, "Yes, I know...........I lost my tooth!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? My grandson and I love, love, love to put together Lego machines—(but secretly he'd rather do this with his grandfather). My granddaughter and I love to paint (She's an artist, you know).

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Go for walks and bike rides and READ, READ, READ.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Frankly, I try not to visit everyday—don't want to wear the ole welcome out.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Life is not fair but it is grand. You are special and you are loved.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Life-lover (oops, that's two).

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? Go ahead and buy your own car seat, highchair and crib.

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

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? I blog about the grand life......www.play-grand.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: Sandy

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 Sandy:

How many children do you have? 2 boys

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We have Chloe who is 9 and her sister Amy who is 7 then we have Grace who is 6 and Oliver her brother who is 4.

Any great grandchildren? Noooo not ready for them yet.

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? Hmm… well am I old enough I guess … I don’t think I was concerned, just elated and excited, I guess, and thrilled about the thought of sleeping with a granddad.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Unfortunately my eldest son is now divorced and it has been a hard battle to get access. I never really understood those “fathers for justice” that climbed on top of buildings in London etc but for over a decade, Fathers 4 Justice has fought to ensure fathers play an important role in the parenting of their children when parents separate. They have campaigned to ensure that the best parent for their children is BOTH parents.

Yet 1 in 3 children still grow up without a father. I am lucky to see his two girls (the oldest of my grandchildren) every other weekend but that is not nearly enough time to build a bond with them.

My youngest son has two children and I see them regularly once a week when we have them whilst their parents go to work ~ we really look forward to having them. What is nice tho is that we actually see them when we are not looking after them if you can understand that … what I mean is that they all visit often as a family with our lovely daughter in law (their Mum) too.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? We both (hubby and I) love spending time with them and love their funny little ways … when they go home at 6pm we are thoroughly exhausted but enjoy talking about the day … and who said what and who did what.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Learning not to “interfere”.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Oliver, the youngest and only grandson, has us in stitches all the time. He is a little character … he loves playing on the x-box and Wii with Granddad and the other day when they arrived, Oliver said “Granddad why have you got a cold again?” Granddad said “Well you gave it to me, Oliver” and he said “No I didn’t coz I still got it” … Out of the mouths of babes, eh?

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Well as I said above, Granddad loves to play on the x-box or Wii but I love crafting … I make my own greeting cards and they always say “oh Grandma, can we craft?”That usually results in me dashing off to my desk to put all my bestest pens etc away before the invasion.

We also had a super summer house built in the garden when we retired and most of their toys are down there so they will often disappear down there to choose what to play with.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? I love going to their rooms and playing with their toys … it is not always easy to get up off of the floor now tho !!

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We phone them … and they phone us e.g. when Gracie’s tooth came out she was straight on the phone to tell us. And I always phone them when I see a rainbow and because they only live just up the road they can usually see the same one.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The importance of family and keeping in touch (especially the two older girls who I can sometimes see us losing touch with).

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Loving … Happy…always pleased to see them … oops could never say it in one word.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? How expensive this grandma stuff is … and how many toys and games you seem to acquire even tho you have no children at home

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Enjoy them.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? I have a personal website, http://sandyscraftybits.blogspot.com/ , and I use it to showcase my greeting cards … but as usual the grandchildren are featured heavily on there too.

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: Kay

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 Kay:

How many children do you have? We have three daughters and one son.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? We have been blessed with four grandchildren and number five, a little boy, is due June 2nd.

Nicole is fifteen.

Kevin is twelve.

Samantha is almost four.

Madelyn is twenty months.

Any great grandchildren? We don't have any great grandchildren.

What do your grandchildren call you? My grandchildren just call me Grandma. Sometimes, our twelve-year-old grandson affectionately calls me Granny. I don't know why.

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? This is a great question. I confess, I was immediately concerned with how I would juggle work and other family responsibilities with spending time with our grandchild. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to help with any childcare that would be needed as my daughter returned to work. As a grandmother, I understood my energy and time would be limited and I wrestled with how to juggle it all.

I had seen a great example of grandmotherly involvement in my maternal grandmother. She did not work and had no other grandchildren. I was fearful I would not live up to all that she was able to do for us. I have since learned to balance my expectations with reality.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? We are fortunate to live close to all of our grandchildren. It would be rare for us to not see them every week. We try to babysit when we can and to have the families come for dinner so we can spend time just enjoying one another.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? This is a difficult question because I love the totality of what it means to be a grandma. The opportunity to share in the lives of my children's children is a gift and a privilege and I hope to make the most of it. I probably most enjoy our conversations. My grandchildren are all very interesting people and I love the times we can sit and talk without being rushed.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Energy! How I wish I had more energy. There are so many things I want to do with my grandchildren, but I must remind myself to be realistic about what I can do.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. I babysit the two youngest girls every Friday. Madelyn, the twenty month old, loves to clean up. If I can't find my shoes when I leave their house it is probably because Maddi has lined them up with the other shoes in the closet. When we play with play doh, she is always picking up after her older sister. Maddi still uses a pacifier. One day, when I got her up from her nap, she took her binky over to a table and put it next to another one. She organizes her binkies!

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? We love food and enjoy cooking and eating new things. We also enjoy games and walks around our neighborhood. Our older grandkids just love coming to our house to hang out and we don't need to do anything special at all.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? When we visit our younger grandchildren, we often go for walks or to the park. In the summer we spend a lot of time blowing bubbles or using sidewalk chalk. In the winter, we pretend so many things. Just last week our 3 1/2 year old had a wedding in the living room. She wore a princess dress and tiara and carried some silk flowers. It was adorable. Sometimes, we take flashlights into the basement and play in a little, pink tent. We imagine we are camping and making s'mores.  There is nothing like imaginative play.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? All of our grandchildren live very close. However, as the two oldest become more involved in other activities, we try to be intentional about keeping that bond strong. We send each other notes on the internet and make frequent phone calls. We also plan special days here and there so that we can just be together.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I hope to play a role in helping my grandchildren become mature and responsible adults. I also hope to see them become creative people who love life. Most importantly, I hope to pass along my faith so that my grandchildren will have Someone to turn to in times of trouble. It is faith that gets us through the hard times and I want my grandchildren to have the strength that comes with faith.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? My initial reaction is that I hope my grandkids will think of the word love. Someone has said that every child deserves to know there is someone who is crazy about them. Throughout my childhood and adolescence I was certain of this one thing: my grandparents were crazy about me. I hope that my grandchildren will experience great love in our family and know for a certainty that I am absolutely crazy about them.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? You don't have to bake cookies to be a good grandma. You don't have to be rich or talented. You just need to be loving and available.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Have fun. Be yourself. Don't compare yourself to other grandmothers. Use the best of who YOU are to enrich the lives of your grandchildren.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? I have a fun grandma blog, www.americangrandma.com. Our blog is meant to be an encouragement to grandmothers who are trying to balance work, aging parents, health concerns or just busyness with their desire to spend time with grandkids. We also want to encourage grandmothers about their unique role in guiding their grandchildren spiritually. Our blog has recipes, articles, fun ideas,self-care tips, book lists and links to other grandmother websites. I hope you will visit soon.

I also have written a Kindle book for grandmothers, One Endless Line of Faith: 30 Days of Prayer for Our 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!

Grilled Grandma: Cynthia

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 Cynthia:

How many children do you have? I have two children and two step-children.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? 5 grandchildren ages, 5, 4, 3, 1, and 2 weeks.

Any great grandchildren? No.

What do your grandchildren call you? They call me Grandma or Grandma Cynthia

After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? I don’t remember having any concerns about being a grandma. I was just thrilled and excited.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? The 5 and 1 year olds live near us and we attend church together, so I get to see them a couple times a week. The 3 year old and her brand new sister live about 90 minutes away, so we see them at least once a month. Our little 4 year old just moved from New Jersey to Georgia. We get to see her about once a year. There have been a couple years we’ve gotten to see her twice in the same year. I sure wish they could move closer.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? It’s hard to explain why being a grandma is so great. I suppose the best part is that you’re much calmer than you were with your own. Your perspective is different, and you don’t have the ultimate responsibility for them. It’s easy to just relax and enjoy them.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? The most challenging part is letting the parents be the parents when you disagree with what they’re doing. For the most part, our kids are great parents which makes it easier to keep my mouth shut when I do disagree with them.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Wow! It’s hard to pick one time out. These kids make me laugh all the time. The 5 year old says the most outrageous things, and the one year old is just too cute! The 3 year old is a handful of mischief. When we visited the 3 year old last week, I brought her a little craft kit for making valentines. She wanted me to sit down and make them with her right away. I told her that we needed glue and I hadn’t brought any with me. She looked thoughtful for a moment and said, “I tink so,” and disappeared into her room. Sure enough she came out with a little glue stick, and we made valentines.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Truthfully, I like to just watch them play. I’ve got lots of toys, so Grandma’s house is always fun. Sometimes we go to the park. I talk to them while they’re playing, and they tell me what they’re doing. The Princess likes to come over for a pajama party, which means popcorn and a movie.  Now that they’re getting bigger, I’m looking for craft ideas we can do together.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Ha! Same thing, except they play with their own toys.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? We send and receive pictures. Thank goodness for the Internet. We keep in touch on Facebook, and occasionally Skype.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I hope to pass on what I passed on to my own children, a love for God and a desire to do what’s right. I want to help them develop a sense of security so that they know they can aspire to great things and they’ll always have someone to catch them if they fall.

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 really don’t have an answer for this. My mom is a wonderful grandmother, and I’ve patterned myself after her.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Just let them know you love them however you choose to show it. Rest assured that they will naturally love you too.

Do you have a website or blog? What is it about? My blog is Commonplace Crazy. I write about my life, my grandchildren, and good grammar.

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 grandchildren do you have? What are their ages? I have four grandchildren: Andrew Michael (9), Lauren Grace (5), Grace Carolyn (5), and Payton Elizabeth (3).

What do your grandchildren call you? Grandkids call me “Grandma.” I don’t care for “grandma nicknames.”

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Andrew & Lauren live with their parents in Beaverton, Oregon and I live in St. Louis, MO. However, we manage to see them 2 or 3 times each year for several days each visit. Grace and Payton live with their parents nearby, so we see them 2 or 3 days each week.

What was your biggest concern upon learning you were to become a grandma? I was very happy to learn I was going to be a grandma when Andrew was born. His parents had been married for 4 years, and I was 56 years old. My biggest concern with all the grandkids is growing up in a world filled with so much turmoil and uncertainty. Although, history has a way of teaching us that the world and mankind remains pretty much the same – just with newer technology.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? The best thing about being a grandparent is teaching and influencing the kids based on my life experiences, and growing up in a different time. I would like to instill in them some of the “old fashioned” ways to go along with the “new fashioned” ways.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? The most challenging part of being a grandparent is understanding the large generation gap between me and the kids. I do make every effort to bridge the gap as much as possible though, and accept the gap as reality and a natural and good thing.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. The grandkids make me laugh all the time. Once Lauren came into the living room ready for bed wearing her horse theme nightgown and included her pink cowgirl boots I had given her last Christmas and pink cowgirl hat. The kids do say “the darndest” things all the time which makes me laugh.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? When the kids are visiting our house I enjoy getting out old toys that belonged to their mothers (I have two daughters). I saved Barbie dolls, Barbie jeep and horse trailer, My Little Ponies and their stable. Recently we got out the old Lite Brite and there were still some unused pictures which were the Smurfs theme. I also have a large collection of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans memorabilia in a bedroom. I let the kids play with those items and encourage their questions and interest. They are pretty careful not to play too rough with some items so they don’t break, but that is my decision as I really want them to make that special connection with my childhood (and adulthood).

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? When we are visiting their house I enjoy them showing me their old and new toys and games. Andrew has been taking piano lessons and I enjoy hearing him practice songs. He and I also share a love of baseball (St. Louis Cardinals). It is a special thrill for me to play catch with my grandson. He may not think it too cool to play catch with grandma much longer though.  My husband and I met the Oregon family in Disneyland last March for a few days, and we had a great time being young and old kids.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Between visits with the two kids on the west coast we talk on the telephone occasionally, and hear from their mother on e-mail or Facebook about their school and extra-curricular activities – including pictures (many pictures).

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? I would like to pass along to the grandkids “appreciation” – for their families and the many opportunities they have. Also, the Golden Rule is one that never goes out of style!

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? One word I would choose when the grandkids think of me – “interesting” (not dull or boring). I want them to enjoy being and talking with me.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I am still learning and don’t think I have made many mistakes as a grandparent (unlike many mistakes as a parent). I try to be helpful with them and their parents, but not overbearing.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Just enjoy every moment you have with the kids. Don’t put too much pressure on them or yourself for perfection. We are truly blessed!

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!