Grand Magazine - July/August 2008 - (Page 67)

Matriarch-Feminist Grandmother Of course, loving [the baby] Michael is the simple part of grandmothering. Learning for the first time to mother [my daughter] Anne, the new mother, is far more complex. We are both strong, opinionated women who have frequently disagreed over the last 34 years. It seems miraculous how well we http:// matriarch17. blogspot.com/ search/label/ Grandma are doing now. To my great joy, Anne is mothering Michael essentially the way I mothered my two younger daughters, when I was confident enough to honor my heart and my instincts and not let experts persuade me to impose unrealistic expectations on the baby… —Mary Joan Graves Liam’s Grandma Grammy is on a rampage right now, and that bad for Catherine.” I asked what that meant, means that she is cleaning and trying to keep and Catherine said that everything she’s goher mouth shut. Thank the good Lord for ing through, raising a child all by herself with church, which we attended this morning, and no help. Swallowing hard, I reminded her that it was so inspiring. Liam was a good boy during while the route she has chosen to conceive a the service and slept during much of it. After child and then raise him is not the conventional that, I told [my daughter] Catherine that we method, she has help, to which she replied, “Not would go to Bob Evans for breakfast. En route, much.” I gritted my teeth and held on to the she said she wanted to go to Big Boy. I said, steering wheel for dear life. “We’re going to Bob Evans.” Then she said she Arriving home, Catherine continued that she wanted to go to Panera Bread. I said, “We’re godoesn’t ask us for anything and that she never ing to Bob Evans.” We got to the traffic light and asks us to baby-sit, etc. I again calmly reminded I hadn’t realized that Bob Evans is now gone, her that we baby-sit regularly when she needs to replaced by a fondue restaurant. “I guess we’re shower, run next door to visit, eat, or go to work going to Big Boy,” she said with a smirk. I gritted for five hours in the evening. I have changed my teeth, held on to the wheel and turned my fair share of diapers, have burped, into Big Boy. rocked, fed, sung and acted like a court http:// We had a lovely breakfast together; we jester to keep the little man happy liamsgrandma. laughed, shared digs at each other and typepad.com when he fusses—and he is a fussy little conversed nonstop. On the way home, guy. And, we provide a roof over their however, things changed and Catherine heads, food, in-house washer and dryer, started talking about her life and how she cable TV and lots and lots of patience wants to get an apartment or better yet, buy a without asking for anything in return. She said house. I carefully told her that the first thing she it’s not the same as having a husband. I sighed, should be excited about is saving for a car and brought Liam into the house and, so I wouldn’t to get her license back (unpaid tickets caused say anything more that might change the “nice her to lose her license). This escalated to her Sunday” we were having, I went to my room and statement that her friend’s mom said, “I feel so slammed the door. I took three deep breaths, petted my cat for a few minutes and commenced my cleaning spree. I attacked the floors, the garage, the dishes, laundry, updated our checkbook in Quicken, and took a coffee break to write all this down. A little later, I’ll prepare dinner and then will declare myself off-duty. I will take myself out onto the patio, wrapped in a blanket, where, hopefully, the stars will shine and I can lean my head back and gaze and wonder at everything there is, was and will be. —Sue Finley Suzanne Finley with grandson, Liam. As “Liam’s Grandma,” Sue blogs daily on the joys and frustrations of living in a three-generation household. I wouldn’t say anything more that might change the “nice Sunday” we were having. I went to my room and slammed the door. http:// grandmahenke. com/grandma Grandma Henke My grandchildren don’t have the freedoms…I did. The freedom of not being afraid of strangers, the freedom of walking around town, the freedom of not being exposed to pornography, the freedom of safety at school… —Edna Henke JULY AUGUST 2008 GRAND 67 http://matriarch17.blogspot.com/search/label/Grandma http://liamsgrandma.typepad.com http://grandmahenke.com/grandma

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Grand Magazine - July/August 2008

Grand Magazine - July/August 2008 Contents Grand View: Love Is All That's Left Isn't It Grand?: Reassessing the Postponed Life Grand Central Just So We Know: One Mixed-Up Lemon Long-Distance Love: Cuttings Ask Grand: Stuck on Stuff Grand Gestures: "Thanks for the Ugly Gift" Tips on Teens: All That Doesn't Meet the Eye Live Long and Propser On the Cover: Peter Yarrow Presents of Mine Thicker Than Water? Reunions: White Water, White Knuckles The Grand Gourmet So We Are Not Alone Looking Grand: Suit-Able Grandbloggers: Why Watch TV When We Can Talk? Grand Bazaar Resources Grand Finale: What Boat

Grand Magazine - July/August 2008

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