How many children do you have? I have 4 children.  My oldest three are girls and the baby is a boy….ages 32, 30,29,26.

How many grandchildren? What are their ages? I have 4 grandchildren.  My oldest daughter has two little girls, ages 4 and 2.  My second daughter has a 3 yr. old son and a 16 month old girl.

Any great grandchildren? Not yet…

What do your grandchildren call you? I started out as Nana but it morphed into Nina.  So, I am Nina.  My husband said he was too young to sleep with a grandma or a granny so…..

How often do you get to see your grandchildren? Well, I see two or more every week.   Two live 25 minutes away and 2 are an hour away so it depends on the week.  This week I have a date with my grandson to go see a movie.

What is the best thing about being a grandma? I would have to say that the best thing is that I can be all about love and fun stuff.  I make them mind me but that isn’t hard because their parents have done such a great job with teaching them respect.

When they come over, I drop everything and just play with them.  Of course, I also love to be able to send them home at the end of the day….hahaha.  I earned that!

What is the most challenging part of being a grandma? Knowing how hard it is for my girls.  Raising kids is just plain hard and when my girls are stressed or afraid they aren’t doing it right, then I am stress too.  You never stop being a mom.  Also, I am not as young as I was when I had kids so I get tired easily.  After they leave, I am exhausted….haha.  I had four and never slowed down but I can have one grandchild and can barely get out the door on time.

Describe a recent time that one (or more) of your grandchildren made you laugh out loud. Wow…..they make me laugh out loud all the time.  But, my grandson makes me laugh out loud all the time.  He is a funny kid.  However, the story that comes to mind is the other day we were shopping in Canton, Texas with my granddaughters and the oldest one needed to go to the bathroom.  Well, it was filthy and she looked at it and then looked at me and said, “What?  Seriously?”  It just cracked me up.  She was still 3 at the time.  How do you pick just one thing with grandkids.  Everything they do makes me laugh with pleasure.

What is your favorite thing to do with grandchildren who visit your house? I have an adjustable, vibrating sleep number bed.  For some reason, they love to get on my bed and put the head and feet up and turn the vibrator on.  Also, we have a golf cart and live in a little neighborhood where you can ride it around all over so, we ALWAYS ride the golf cart unless it is too cold or raining.  One more thing, we set up a tent and I cook them a corn dog.  Not that healthy, right?  But, that is part of being a grandma.

What is your favorite thing to do when visiting grandchildren at their house? Well, I just like to watch them play.  They want to show me their toys.

How do you maintain the bond between yourself and your grandchildren between visits? Well, since they live so close and they are so young, it isn’t hard.  But, sometimes I talk to them on the phone.  I also talk to my daughters every day.

What do you most want to pass along to your grandchildren? The love of Jesus Christ and unconditional love from me.

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

Find out more about Susan on her blog, Permanent Posies.