Brief (breef) –noun

1. a short and concise statement or written item.

2. an outline, the form of which is determined by set rules, of all the possible arguments and information on one side of a controversy: a debater's brief.

3. an outline, summary, or synopsis.

4. briefs: close-fitting, legless underpants with an elastic waistband.

Grandma's Briefs (grand-muz breefs) –blog

1. Bits and bytes on life's second act: The good, bad and humorous of being a baby boomer, grandparent, parent of adult children, wife and writer, all while working to be a positive influence in my family, my community, my world.

About Lisa Carpenter

Hi, I'm Lisa. I'm a grandma, a mom, a wife. I'm also a blogger—hence this site—a pre-published picture book author, freelance writer, and, as of 2021, a published author. My first book, The First-Time Grandmother’s Journal, was published in February 2021, followed by A Love Journal: 100 Things I Love About Grandma in December 2021.

When I first became a grandmother, back in 2008, I found few regularly updated blogs by and for grandmothers, so I decided to give it a whirl. This is my whirl. I started whirling in July of 2009 and am still whirling more than a decade later (albeit not as often as I did initially). I'm happy to report that in that time, the number of blogging grandparents has grown and the grandma blogger community of which I'm a member now thrives.

So, yes, I am indeed a grandma. A boy grandma! My first grandson was born in June of 2008. My second, baby brother to the first, arrived in June of 2011. Their little brother arrived June 2014. All three June babes are children of my middle daughter and her husband—both whom were born in 1983. My eldest daughter (born in 1982) became a stepmom in 2016, providing me with a "bonus" grandson born in April 2008 and her firstborn (a boy… and my first local grandchild!) arrived in October of 2018. His little brother, my latest and last grandchild, arrived in November 2020. My youngest daughter (born in 1985) has chosen to not have kids, which is genuinely okay with me, though she does have a stepson (born in 2001).

The word "grandma" unfortunately conjures images of apron-wearing matrons, whiling away their remaining years in rocking chairs. That stereotype does not fit me. That stereotype doesn't fit most grandmothers. We are so much more. We're younger, more vibrant, more active, more engaged, more involved, more interesting than the inaccurate and unrealistic idea often associated with the word grandma. My hope is that someday soon the media, marketers, and non-grandma population will understand that.

That said, I must admit to possessing a few of the stereotypical grandma traits: I love rocking chairs; I don't mind at all being called Gramma by my grandsons; I think that cool and unique socks make a perfectly fitting gift—though I do draw the line at underwear. And most importantly of all: I love my grandkiddos to pieces.

Beyond that, here's a smattering of other details for those sincerely seeking enlightenment by clicking on the "About" tab of this blog:

• I've been married to the same man for four decades. In addition to the grandsons, we have three beautiful and amazing adult daughters, three fantastic sons in law, and an embarrassingly spoiled American Bully named Callie that we rescued in 2020 … less than a week after our beloved Pit/Pointer Mickey passed away 15+ years after we rescued him.

• I'm a Christian. I pray daily, hourly and sometimes even more often than that. We're told to pray without ceasing and I take that seriously.

• I love to read. I also love movies, music, live performances, taking photos of my favorite faces and places, and attempting to learn to play piano.

• I was born in Minnesota. I was transplanted in Colorado in 1974—and have never skied.

• I have MS, diagnosed at the age of 27.

• I'm originally a long-distance grandma, with three grandsons living more than 800 miles away in the desert. That's hard as hell. This blog is one of the ways I cope. Being relatively recently blessed with local ones has made the coping far easier … and fun!

Disclosure: I sometimes am paid and/or receive products in exchange for being an ambassador for those products and services. I sometimes accept free products and write honest lifestyle reviews (no tech and specs) on them. I sometimes get paid to write posts on specific topics. I sometimes get paid to tweet or post Facebook status updates for various things. Any content for which I've been paid is clearly marked as such and usually—but not always—posted in Grandma's Back Room, not on the home page. Sponsored or promotional tweets and FB status updates will include the #ad, #spon or #promo sort of hashtag.

Ever wonder about any of the above? Just email me. Ever want to pay me for any of the above? Just email me. Ever want to send me free product with the understanding that I'm going to give my honest opinion even if I don't like the product or maybe even post no review at all if I don't like the product? Just email me.

The official and legal fine-print version of what I said above, aka my disclosure policy: This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contactLisa Carpenter (Lisa at GrandmasBriefs dot com). This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements. The owner(s) of this blog is not compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the blog owners. If we claim or appear to be experts on a certain topic or product or service area, we will only endorse products or services that we believe, based on our expertise, are worthy of such endorsement. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest. (To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org.)