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!