First blog: On Grand Parenting




My two month stint as a grand parent to a 3 year old and a 3 month old baby in Buffalo, NY, is challenging, rewarding and very, very tiring, but I would not trade it for anything.

I came to Buffalo, NY with the idea that I would be a very organized grand parent, that in my spare time while the children are napping I would be quilting, than in the evenings I would play bridge and work out in the gym, and on the weekends I would be site seeing (after all Niagara Falls is only 15 minutes away, and Toronto 90 minutes). Looks like a good plan right?

Well, my plan is working out – sort of:

1. I have learned to diversify and expand on my fashion sense: I realized that the baby’s spit-up does not much any of my clothes so I have the pleasure to change my outfits 2-3x daily. (Did my children ever spit-up when they were babies?)

2. Daily exercise and fitness activities: I get to work on upper body strength by delightfully carrying a 18lb baby in a 19lb car seat (daughter spent the extra $50 on the “deluxe and safe” car seat, which also adds 10lbs) while also trying to hold a 3 year old’s hand. (In the good old days we just put the kids on the back seat of the car).

3. I play intellectually challenging games with a 3 year old: Animal Pairs, HiHo Cherry-O, and Alphabet Express. I loose every time.

4. I read 3-4x daily the entire series of books written by Margaret and H. A. Rey “The Adventures of Curious George.” (This is George. He lived with his friend the man with the yellow hat. He was a good little monkey and always very curious….)

No, I would not change anything. It is all worth it and the rewards are priceless - the baby falling asleep on my shoulder breathing, oh, so softly and the 3 year old telling me as we are descending the stairs: "Grandma, you need to hold on to the railing because you fell in the ocean and broke your shoulder." It is all worth it.

Spare time? What is it?

What about my quilting? I do have fabric, sewing machine and a sewing room.

Playing bridge? Occasionally, I play duplicate bridge at the Bridge Club of Buffalo (the game is brutally competitive).

Working out in the gym? Courtesy of my daughter and Son-in-Law I have a gym membership and we do Mother-Daughter "spinning" and Zumba. I love it.

Visiting Niagara Falls and Toronto? We are yet to get there.

Did I mention that most of the days I am in bed by 9:30 - 10:00pm (back home it used to be 1:00am)?

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