Grilled Grandma: Lisa

Lisa with AdriannaHow many children do you have? I have a daughter, three sons and two step-daughters and a step-son.  Our oldest is 24 and our youngest is 17.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages?  I currently have three grandchildren.  The middle one, Coltin, is 16 months old and lives with my step-daughter in Missouri so we don’t get to see him near enough.

The oldest, Tristan, will be 3 years old next month, he has a baby sister, Adrianna, who celebrated her first birthday a week before Christmas.  They live with my daughter, here in Wisconsin.

Any great grandchildren? Not yet, lol.  I’m only 42!

What do your grandchildren call you?  Tristan, or Twister as I call him, calls me MaMaw.  Since he has a plethora of grandparents we decided I would be MeMaw, but he still isn’t talking much and I’m happy with him calling me anything!  Coltin wasn’t talking last time I saw him and Addy is still too little to speak.

How often do you get to see your grandchildren?  We see Coltin once or twice a year.  But I get to play with Twister and Addy at least once a week.  When my daughter was pregnant with Addy we set up every Tuesday as my day to have him (now them) for a little bit.  It usually ends up being 1-3 hours.  Twister has spent the night a few times and Addy just spent her first night right before Christmas.Coltin

What is the best thing about being a grandma?  It’s such a hard thing to put my finger on.  There is this joy that fills my heart at the sight of them, or heck just thinking about them.  It’s pretty awesome to be able to love them, play with them, and enjoy them without feeling responsible for them - I realize I need to be a good role model too, but it’s much different, more relaxed, than when my children were small.

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma?  I feel like my biggest challenge is making sure I don’t try to take over, stepping back and watching my child raise a child.  Also, that lack of responsibility I mentioned up there, well, with that also comes a lack of control.  It saddens me to think of my grandchildren moving to another state, yet that’s up to their parents.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud.  They bring a smile to my heart daily, but the only thing that is popping into my head is a couple of weeks ago, Tristan, who says only handful of words, said “boob” - I found it hilarious he knows that word but not so many others.

TristanWhat is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house?  Be with them.  When they come over I drop everything and they get my full attention for the duration of their visit.  I love when they climb on my lap!

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house?  Simply play with them, crawling on the floor, chasing them down the hall, tickling, kissing - loving!

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits?  Well, they are still small so I can’t talk to them on the phone and they wouldn’t know if I sent a card so I guess nothing, except keep in touch with their parents.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren?  I want them to know me.  To know that I loved, love, them!  Time is short and we need to live it up while we can.

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

Do you have a website or blog? Sure do, Lisa’s Chaos at http://lisaschaos.com/ My husband and I also have a photography website, http://newdaephotography.com/, and we’ve started a diet/exercise blog, http://noweighting.wordpress.com/.