Grandma???(I Don't Think So!!)

I'm with you, girl, and I'm 54! No hurry at all!

LOL nancy!, thanks!

Wow! I can't even imagine it - although sometimes it does sound nice to be having that freedom at 35! (I'm still in the diaper stage so that's a long way off for me!)

wow. i'm 37 and lillie's only 3.5 yrs old. i am glad i waited. grandkids - i'll wait a LONG time!!

thanks ladies ;-)

been there done that!

I'm with you, Mandi. I am enjoying my freedom now. While I'd love grandkids someday, there's plenty of time for that. Enjoy your freedom (you deserve it after the kitchen remodeling!)

thanks laurie ;-)

wow Lillain... you need to write article about that!

Everything in its own time. Both you and Beth have time on you side. Enjoy this time together before she branches out. BTW How fares your kitchen?

Moya, the cabinets and counters are in the sink and dishwasher are hooked up and working and I bought stick on tile for the floor. I still have to paint, put down the floor and put drywall on the ceiling... sigh

My friend at work was a mom at 16 a grandmother at 32 and is now a great grandmother at 52. Life sure is strange sometimes. She could possibly be a great great grandmother in her late 60's, early 70's...though she is hoping the trend will STOP.

Congrat on your daughter, all you did at her age, and the 'freedom' you have. ENJOY IT!

Mandi -

Welcome to my world. I'm 40, my daughter is due Aug 4th. I'm planning to have my nervous breakdown in September.

At least now I have an excuse for things heading south when I wear a bathing suit. I can just tell people,"What do you expect....I'm a grandma!"

Timing is everything. When our children are able to support and love their own children, that's when it's a good time for us to be grandmas.

The biggest problem in this arena for me is that I have my own dreams and my children have theirs...so I hope to goodness that we don't come into conflict over the realization of our personal dreams.

thanks everyone ;-)

I married a man 8 years younger than I, and have a daughter the age of his little sisters (who are ten years younger than he) as well as a "adopted daughter", the same age as my biological daughter, who adopted me because she says I'm the Mom she wishes her Mom was. Which is just to bring us to her calling me one day, getting my hubby on the phone first, and saying brightly "Well, hello GRANDPA." He was 32 at the time. I think everyone on the block heard his screamed " WHAAAAAT!!!???" He was definately not prepared...

Aww, Mandi, this was SO touching. Definitely,you have earned the freedom you now will have when Beth is in college. You have done such an AWESOME job with Beth and you were SO young and I am just SO impressed with your life, Mandi. Our kids are the SAME age, yet I was exactly the age YOU are now when MY son was BORN. I lived a life that was fun, full of college and working, then became a mother at 36. Enjoy your time, you deserve IT !!!!

thanks ladies ;-)

Kathryn, Now that is a strange bit of weird ;-)

Unfortunately, the when and how of becoming a grandparent is not something we control. But since my son, an only child, died before having children, I envy all grandparents regardless of how they attained that status.

Oh my gosh... Carl I am so sorry....

Mandi, when my daughter was pregnant the first time I informed all in the family the ..... "the first one who calls me GRANDPA.....DIES.....

John... aw come on now.. does the little one call your gramps?

Great follow-up Mandi! It sounds like Beth has the patience of a saint and will make a wonderful mother.

Lillian: I'm so happy for you that you finally realized what all the fuss of grandmotherhood (is that a word?) is about.

thanks Martha for inspiring me ;-)

That was wonderful Mandi. I have 7 kids. My three step children were in our permanent custody from the time the oldest was 12. She is now 27. I am 42. It was both work and fun.
I could be a grandmother anytime, but none of them seem in a position,or inclined to reproduce. I am with the "the will do it in their own time" crowd.
I had my first child at 22. He is in Iraq at the moment.
I still have three at home. A girl 15, a girl 7(almost 8) and a boy 6. I can't imagine having grandkids at this point, but will be happy to smell that baby smell when it does happen.
My own mother was lacking a a few areas.(she liked to hang in bars.), and when I had my first child, I could see the pride in her eyes. (I was a single mom, but I was considerably more responsible than mom had been.)
She never wanted to be a mother, really, although she did the best she could loving my sister and I. No sour grapes here. Even though she didn't give us a lot of stability, she did give us independence and a sense of self. She also served as a good role model as to what NOT to do as a mother. (Fortunately, we did have close family who were good role models, and who reminded us to love our mother, despite her weaknesses.)
Thank you Mandi for writing this wonderful piece from an honest perspective.

becky sounds like your mom and mine could be best friends ;-)

my mom is much more loving and motherly now... having a baby of my own really changed her...

thanks for reading and writing!

don't be in a rush, but just know it will be an overpowering event when you become that gramma!

My wife was 42 and I was 44 when we became grandparents for the first time; out daughter was 22. Now, six years later, we have three grandchildren, and it's great. Spoil 'em and send 'em home! Grandchildren are God's gift for not exterminating your own children; no matter how much they may have deserved it....

thank carol and lee!

No, no!!! Being a younger grandmother is wonderful. You have the opportunity to show your grandkids what a wonderful, independent woman of power is like. I can hike, play basketball and baseball, and teach them all sorts of things because I am still young enough to move and have fun. Being a grandma does not mean sitting in a rocking chair. I became a grandmother much sooner than I would've liked, but it has been wonderful and I am grateful for each and every one of them and for the fact that I am still young enough to see them grow up.

No rush, please. I'd like to enjoy the adulthood of my kids for just a bit more.

Mandi, Grandmother-hood can wait a few years, but once you're a grandma, you'll love it.

thanks everyone ;-) I am sure I will enjoy it in many many years ;-)