Grandparents

♫Sunrise Sunset♫

For those who know I'm waiting for my first grandchild to be born--Not Yet!  This post isn't about me, but rather it's about MY grandparents and grandparenting in general.  When I was born in 1950 my father's father was 65 and his mother was 53.  We called my grandfather Papaw.  This is the only photo I have of him with me in it, taken when I was probably 2½....

We called my grandmother Mamaw.  I do not have a photo of her with me as a child.  This one was taken before my time in late 1946 with her four grandchildren from her marriage to my grandfather....

On my mother's side there was only my widowed grandmother who was 47 when I was born.  She was called Grandma Rozgony when this photo was taken of her with me and my mother.  I was almost 3....

Grandma Rozgony married again 3 years later so we started calling her by her new last name...Grandma Spencer.  I do not have any photos of me with my step-grandfather.

Until I was 11 we lived a 4-hours' drive from my fraternal grandparents and a day's drive in the opposite direction from my maternal grandparents.  After age 11 everything reversed when we moved north and were 3½ hours from my mother's parents and a 13-hour-day's drive to my father's (and yes, we'd leave early and not stop till we got there!).  I remember visiting the set of grandparents that lived the closest often and only seeing the other once a year.  But the frequency of visits never made that much difference as far as our relationship was concerned.  Whenever we visited there were always a number of cousins about so I was just one of several children.  The only individual attention I remember getting was the one time I remember Mamaw braiding my hair for me.  That's not to say my grandparents didn't give me attention, but that is the only time I remember getting it....except the time I got in trouble with Papaw for backtalking!  And all the times I let the screen door slam--he noticed me then!

How times changed by the time I had my children.  My father died before my boys were born, but my mother lavished her attention on them on her twice yearly visits to us (she'd fly up from Florida) and our every-couple-years' visits to her.  She'd send them notes in the mail and talk on the phone to them.  We called her Grandma Gilleylen....

My mother passed away at age 73 when my boys were 15, 12, and 6.

We only got to see Ken's parents about once a year, alternating visits here and there since it was a 12-hour drive.  The lower left photo are the two youngest sons with their Grandma Schultz about 3 years before she died....  

One of the reasons we did not make the trip to their house very often was because of all their antiques and do-dads.  Our boys were constantly being reminded by their grandparents not to touch anything.  Their visits to us, however, were much more relaxed.  Grandma would read to the boys while Grandpa Schultz told stories about his growing up years.  He played cards, gardened, and built snowmen with them....

Ken's father passed away at age 83½ when the boys were 22, 19, and 13, and his mother at age 91 when they were 32, 29, and 23.

I've been thinking about all this because I'm 63 and Ken is 67.  When this granddaughter who is about to be born is 18 we'll be 81 and 85 and even older for subsequent grandchildren by their 18th birthdays.  We are an hour and 20 minutes' drive away--much closer than I ever was to my grandparents or my children to their grandparents.  This will be a whole new experience for me with no prior examples of how it should be done.

But I have my own ideas.  I've been collecting books, videos, and toys for years and envision playing with my grandchildren....

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Outside we still have the boys' tree house and swing set and have plans to build a playhouse for the little ones....

Since all 3 sons live in the same general area we'd love to have "cousins camps" here at the house on weekends and during the summer--campouts with campfires in the yard, excursions to the many historical sites in the area, tubing on Antietam Creek, swimming at Greenbriar Lake.  And, of course, numerous tea parties and picnics!  I've even dreamed of taking older grandchildren to foreign countries. 

Whether we'll live long enough and be in good-enough shape remains to be seen.  In the meantime, my grandchildren will have the scores of photo scrapbooks, and now my Blogs, to remember us by.  If I've forgotten to tell them the stories about their father they'll be able to go to the scrapbooks or view the many movies we took of our boys growing up.  I hope this will at least allow them to know us in ways I never really knew my own grandparents--nor my boys their grandparents.  

As for what I'm to be called?  I'd like to be called Grandmama, if only to distinguish me from my own grandmothers and my children's grandmothers.  What do you think?  Does it sound outdated? What about Grandma Cathy?  

If you are a grandparent, what name do you go by?  Do they call their other set of grandparents by the same moniker?  What are some of your favorite activities with your grandchildren?

And the BIG question I'd like to ask is, will you be annoyed to death with me for posting a million photos and telling you every little thing my granddaughter is up to?!