Introducing Grilled Grandma Aletha

“ ... anything that happens to your grandchild also happens to your child, so adversity can be doubly painful, but happiness doubles too.”

~ Grandma Aletha

Time to grill up another grandma!

A Grilled Grandma is a grandmother on whom I've shone the spotlight, grilling her with some grandma-related questions and she's graciously responded with answers and photos.

Please click on over and give a warm welcome to Grilled Grandma Aletha.

Introducing Grilled Grandma Janie

 I'd like to introduce you to Janie. Ever since meeting Janie online, I've been continually impressed and inspired by her work ethic, her writing credits, and her cheerful heart. Oh, and her hair. I do love Janie's hair! And that was all before I even knew she was a grandma. That she is, though, and today she is a grilled grandma.

What's 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 Janie:

How many children do you have? One daughter. And a step daughter and step son who both live in Michigan.
 
How many grandchildren? What are their ages? Three from my daughter  2 Boys and a girl. The baby, Enzo, is 19 months.  Joey 8 years old & Dylan is 10 years old.
Three from my step daughter - 5, 8 & 11
One from my step son - 8
 
What do your grandchildren call you? Grandma or Grams and sometimes J-Gram.

 After the initial elation, what was your first concern upon hearing you would soon be a grandmother? That my daughter's wedding dress was going to have to be altered!
Then about month before my granddaughter was born, I broke my foot and I was on crutches during her birth and for several months afterwards. What I hated the most was that I couldn't carry her around.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? I see the ones who live near me almost every day.
 
What is the best thing about being a grandma? Being able to play with them. Having them confide in me. Tucking them in at night. And then going home. And being able to share being a "grandma" with my mother who is now a great grandmother. It's an unbelievable feeling, one that I'm so glad I get to experience.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Hmm. This is hard to answer because I just love it all. I guess sometimes watching my granddaughter act with my daughter in the same rebellious way that my daughter used to act toward me.
 
Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Well, the youngest has a language of his own that always makes me laugh.  My granddaughter does impressions that crack me up. And my eight-year-old grandson tells the most amazing stories about his skateboarding adventures.  
 
What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? Snuggle with them on the couch and read books. I also make up stories for them and they in turn make up stories of their own.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Read books and play games. They have very vivid imaginations and like to play made up games such as Dry Cleaners ( who knew such a place could inspire a game) or restaurant. And we dance and put on shows. I'm pretty exhausted when I get home.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? I text my granddaughter. We talk on the phone. Sadly, I don't have as much communication with the grandchildren that live in Michigan.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? Creativity and imagination, whether it's writing or drawing or dancing. And I want them to believe in themselves and know that they can be anything they want to be. That they are the rulers of their own destiny.

What is one word you hope your grandkids think of when they think of you? Fun. But I do know they call me "Funny, unusual & funky." And I have to add that they also think of me as "Big Haired." In fact, I'm working a picture book titled "My big-haired, funky Grandma."

What has most surprised you about being a grandma? How much I love it and them.

What is one thing you wish you had learned earlier as a grandparent? I can't really think of anything.

What one bit of advice would you give a new grandma? Don't be afraid of acting silly.

Do you have a website, book or project to promote? My recent release is a book for tween girls titled MERCURY IN RETRO LOVE. It is a sweet story about crushes, conflicts and astrological confusion.

I write a weekly column for women - http://www.inthepowderroom.com/search/keyword/Janie+Emaus
My website is: www.janieemaus.com
And I blog at www.theboomerrants.com - Anatomy of Baby Boomer - Life in Retrograde

This grilling will now be permanently placed in the Grilled Grandmas Hall of Fame—AKA the Grilled Grandma Archives—under Grilled Grandma: Janie.

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!

A Grilled Grandma and a Bubby update

As many of you know, I'm still on assistant nurse duty with Bubby, so although I'm short on words for this week's Grilled Grandma because of time, I'm long on adoration for this interesting grandma. She's a lovely woman with two equally lovely granchildren. Her name is Olga and you can learn a bit about her in her grilling, and even more about her on her very own blog.

Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Grilled Grandma: Olga!

In other news, Bubby is recuperating nicely. He's not yet at 100 percent, but he'll get there soon, surely due in part to the kindness of virtual strangers — you awesome readers of Grandma's Briefs — keeping him in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all!

Today's question:

Bubby's been eating a lot of popsicles and ice cream the last few days. What's your favorite frozen treat?

A guffaw and a new feature

All kids say cute things now and then. But sometimes the things they say are not only cute, they're downright hilarious.

Such is the case of a conversation between this week's Grilled Grandma, Gail, and one of her grandsons, which she shared in response to my question, "Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud." Gail said:

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!"

I'm not one for doing the whole "LOL" thing, but that one truly did make me laugh out loud when I read it. What I wonder is how in the world he thought such a thing. Maybe "prostitute" and "prosthetic" sound very similar in a little boy's head? Maybe?

Grilled Grandma: Gail offers up plenty more laughs, so prepare to LOL, ROFL, LMAO or whatever it is you do when confronted with online chuckles ... or snickers ... or flat-out guffaws. Don't hesitate to give Gail a smile in return -- by letting her know what you thought of her grilling. Comment love is always much appreciated here on Grandma's Briefs, especially for the lovely women who allow me to grill them.

NEW FEATURE: Once you're done LOLing, I urge you to take a look at the new feature I debut today on Grandma's Briefs. It's called News to Use.

As you can see on the navigation tabs at the top of this page, a News to Use page has replaced the Quotable Grandmas page (right next to the Grilled Grandmas tab). News to Use is where you'll find, as noted on that page, the "best-of-the-best ideas, activities, and info I glean from websites, blogs, magazines and more." Sometimes the news will be serious, sometimes fun, but always, I'm hoping, useful. I'll add News to Use tidbits as I come across them, so be sure to sign up for the News to Use RSS feed so you'll be the first to know when there are new tidbits to peruse, new news to use.

Oh, and for those two people who regularly read the Quotable Grandmas, I've not deleted it ... just moved it to the shadows of the site for now. You can find it right HERE.

Today's question:

What is the funniest book you've ever read?

A grandma to review ... and grill

As a blogger who (occasionally) posts book reviews, I often get approached by folks wanting me to read their books. Sometimes I turn down the authors (or PR companies), sometimes I take them up on the offer, and sometimes I ask if I can grill them.

Okay, I've asked only two writers if I could grill them. This week's Grilled Grandma, Carol, is one of those two.

Carol originally e-mailed me in December regarding her book, Who Gets To Name Grandma: The Wisdom of Mothers & Grandmothers. I told her I'd check it her book if she'd let me roast and toast her over hot coals. She agreed. I think I got the better end of the deal, thanks to all the great advice and info included in the book she sent me to review.

For "Who Gets To Name Grandma," Carol says on her blog, "I interviewed 40 mothers and grandmothers and asked them what advice they would like to give to each other and wrote a book about the experience." Carol organized the answers from the interviewees in chapters based on age (newborn through high school) and notes whether the advice came from a mother or a grandmother. Then Carol, aka Granny-Guru, follows up the quotes with sage advice and often humorous anecdotes from her own experience ... plus a bonus box on each filled with "Granny-Guru's Grains of Wisdom."

Although I disagree with some of the "advice" from grandmothers (there's one where the grandmother complains about getting in trouble with the parents when she "spanked my grandchild with a spatula for bad language," and Granny-Guru doesn't take her to task for the act), there are many nuggets o' gold sprinkled throughout. My favorite:

"Life gives feedback. Parents can't, nor should they protect a child from all of it. Where to draw that boundary of when to step in to prevent mistakes and when to allow a child to learn from life will always be a parent's challenge."

Amen to that, Granny-Guru!

Read Grilled Grandma: Carol for an up-close and personal look at this interesting writer. Then visit her website -- a link is included at the end of her grilling -- for more on author Carol Covin, aka Granny-Guru.

Today's question:

What is one adage, quote, piece of advice or nugget of wisdom you turn to again and again ... and/or share with others again and again? For example, one of my favorites is "The key to patience is finding something to do in the meantime."