My first little granddaughter called me “Umma” when she was learning to talk.
I loved being called Umma, but I knew it would not last.
She caught very quickly onto “Grandma,” and the rest is history. Since then, all of my grandchildren have called me Grandma.
Except Benjamin, Audrey’s littlest guy.
He calls me Mama.
Now, it is true […]

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You’ve heard of swimming with sharks. Or Dolphins. And, of course, swimming with the fishes…
But swimming with the grandchildren? Ah, that’s the paddle for my canoe!
Today I joined Alexander during his swimming lesson at our local YMCA. Usually his Dad is the designated swimmer, and my husband is the stand-in… but […]

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I have a big secret.
One that makes me a super/great/cool grandma, but a horrible/scoundrel mother.
This morning I picked up my grandson from pre-school. (No, this is not the horrible thing.)
I guess I should give a bit of background information. Audrey asked if I could possibly pick up William from pre-school.
I said, “Sure.”
She said, […]

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Run, Grandma, run.
Roll, Grandma, roll.
Faster. Faster.
No, these are not words from a primer or a “Dick and Jane” book.
These are my grandsons thinking that I, their Grandma, am oh… young and agile enough to run and roll and run and roll some more.
And how can I shatter their innocent little perceptions?
I can’t. That’s […]

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I had an epiphany of sorts last week.
Audrey’s oldest son, 3-year-old William, is getting very interested in letters and words. I happen to have a little sign hanging on my back door inside doorknob, and he was studying the words on it: In the Garden.
“What does this spell,” he asked.
I answered, “In the […]

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Let me tell you…
There is nothing in the world quite like being a grandmother.
Maybe being a princess. A queen. A fairy Godmother.
But I think even these “vocations” simply cannot compare.
Take last evening, for example. Audrey and her little family had traveled to visit her husband’s family in Pittsburgh for the Easter holiday. […]

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… or more specifically, Daddy.
OK, I don’t think I can be described as a pushover or a sucker. Unless, of course, it has anything to do with my grandchildren.
I was even one of those pre-grandmother women who said, “How can grandkids be that different from our own kids?”
Well, they are.
Not the kids. But […]

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I can hardly say Triathlon, never mind DO one.
But I am. Doing one, that is.
Well, a mini one. Or more technically, a “Sprint” Triathlon.
On the average, a Sprint Triathlon is about a half mile swim. A 10-15 mile bike ride. And then, to cap it off, a 5K run.
OK.
I am not […]

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This morning, Audrey and her little family came to Grandma and Pop-up’s (that’s what they call Grandpa) for breakfast.
And there are many “rules” to breakfast with three little guys, a pregnant mama and one hungry daddy. 
First, the bacon must be already sizzling when they arrive.  Audrey loves the sounds and aromas of bacon.  It […]

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It’s been awhile since I’ve had to watch my language around children.
That’s not to say I’m adverse to swearing… in fact, my husband and I always encouraged in our children the art of seeing humor in colorful language - in the appropriate context, of course.
But with my grandkids at the age now that they’re veritable […]

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