Growing Closer – Fran and I

So far I have been writing about me and becoming a grandmother and I haven’t said that much about my daughter and her husband. So today I want to introduce Fran.

Fran is 28. She is a graduate of Cedar Crest College, Allentown PA with a major in Dance and a Minor in Management. She started her working career as an assistant manager at Hammett’s Learning World – a retail educational product business. When Hammett’s closed all of their retail stores she became a tutor at Sylvan Learning Center and a substitute teacher and she is still a Sylvan tutor.

Fran and Josh are very excited about becoming parents. They are readying the baby’s room and have the crib and rocker in place. She is taking what was her dresser/changing table from our house and her brother’s bookshelves will complete the furnishings for now.

Fran is the creative spirit in a family of engineers( the rest of us) so who knows what else is in store for the Baby’s room. Items are disappearing from the baby registry so I think she will be well stocked and prepared for his arrival.

Fran and I are very different personalities and we haven’t had that many interests in common. The baby has changed all that. We often walk together in a nearby park and now our talks have drawn us much closer. We talk about her as a baby and a child on a different level. I’m sure all the mothers and grandmothers reading this know what I am talking about.

We also talk about health quite a bit. I am diabetic as was my mother and grandfather and Fran has gestational diabetes. She has to test her blood four times a day and follow a careful diet. We talk about our diet and adjusting this or that to allow some “pregnancy pleasures” like a small serving of ice cream and still have blood sugar readings in range. They say this will be gone as soon as the placenta is gone and Fran is looking forward to having a large coke.

Fran is a “I want to do everything right” kind of person. I know that a lot of that will succumb to the realities of caring for a baby 24/7 but it is very reminiscent for me to listen to her plans. She is interested in my opinion but quickly reminds me that she will be in charge. I remember that feeling pretty well.

I am realizing that just as you seem to get much smarter – according to your kids – as they become grownups, you become smarter again when babies arrive. In other words - I’m not getting older...I’m getting smarter. If only it was true!

I know that Fran and I will have a great mother-daughter relationship when the baby arrives. I plan to be there for her as much as she needs me to but stay out of her way also. She’ll learn about being a mother in the 21st century from women much younger than me and by her own experiences. I will be there with timeless knowledge when she asks and of course a willing babysitter.

My daughter is going to be a mother.....it really is a life transition that should be savored like a fine wine. Allow to breathe, sip slowly, enjoy the bouquet, twirl in the glass, hold to the light to embrace its body. Yes we are wine lovers and we will be shopping for just the right wine to open to celebrate the birth and Christening. The wine at Fran and Josh’s wedding was Saint Francis. Hmmm..we’ll see.

I Love Blogs - Here's a Few to Check Out

Everybody has heard about the mommy bloggers but I have never read any until recently. There are thousands of them! Many of them are very commercial or are really providing stress relief for mothers who write what is essentially a journal. I know that there have to be some good grandparenting blogs out there but I have yet to find any that I personally connect with. Please leave a comment for all of us reading this blog if you recommend any.

I have added three blogs to my blogroll and I am introducing them in this post.

Today’s Moms
The Today's Moms Blog

This blog is written by two Emmy award winning producers and Moms for the Today show on NBC. Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner. They have written their first book together - Today’s Moms Essentials for Surviving Baby’s First Year and they were on Today this morning discussing the book. (I was actually writing this post when they came on and so I add the notes about that segment to this post). Mary Ann mentioned a grandparent quote from the book – “The best thing about motherhood is that you get to do it all over again tomorrow.” I love that line – I’m sure I’ll use it. All four hosts on Today contributed anecdotes for the book and talked about their contributions - Meredith Viera mentions meeting her son for the first time after a C-section. Anne Curry talked about how her husband grew into being a great father and Al recalled his experience when they adopted his daughter Courtney.

Megan Francis
Megan Francis's Blog

Megan is an author and mother of four sons writing about motherhood & family life, mind-body health, Midwest lifestyle, travel and more. Perhaps since my daughter, Fran, is expecting a son, I was particularly drawn to this blog. Megan has a sophisticated writing style that I think will appeal to grandmothers. It’s more adult than cutesy.

Crunchy Domestic Goddess
Crunchy Domestic Goddess Blog

Amy Gates describes her writing as “from women and children’s health to the environment” and the subtitle of her blog is “Raising social consciousness and a new generation of tree huggers since 2004. You get the point. If you’re interested in topics like how to dye your Easter eggs naturally and being a pacifist about germs this is the right place for you.

Grandparents.com
I checked out the blogs at grandparents.com but I didn’t warm up to any of them. I did really enjoy the articles by Beverly Beckam though and you can find them here:
Beverly Beckham's articles at Grandparents.com


I hope you’ll check out these sites and post a comment on blogs that you recommend for grandparents below.

Marion