What Makes for a Good Gramma?

[Awful_Mnom_Woman]

My dad's mom was kinda distant because my dad had a wife and family and my mom's mom was sweet as sugar, but she died in front of me when I was four years old.

What I want to know is, any and all suggestions for being a "good" gramma. I made being a mom my all, and now I have this new role, which I love, and appreciate any and all suggestions. I don't want to over spoil my baby girl by giving her something each time I see her so I have to resist that urge, even though it is strong.

I welcome your input. waewaenen. :)

[peekaboo]

go ahead and spoil thats what grammas are for.

[buckskin pantyhose]

unconditional spoil em rotten lovin! and lots & lots of stories....nothin better than stories of when you were a lil' one, sometimes kids don't always grasp that concept of elders being young at one time. You gotta spoil em.....let mom & dad do the job of tellin' em no! Congrats gramma!

[tradish_wiyan]

Yeah...spoil them...then send them home. Make sure you have a stock of cookies, ice cream, fresh bread etc...:D

[Kakeeya]

Lately I've become the prime caretaker of my grandbaby and she is a handful! I love her with all my heart and do everything for her. Since I also have to act as parent I can't just spoil her the way that I used to. But we balance it all out and I hold her in my lap and give her hugs all the time, still carry her around, etc. I also take her with me to events and ceremonies where she is exposed to her other relatives and our culture. Teaching a grandchild our culture, traditions is one of our important roles, so talk to your grandbaby a lot and expose them to your people. I made my grandbaby a toy babyboard and she always has her baby dolls in it, sings our native sleep songs to the dolls, etc. Lots of fun being a grandparent, not always about buying the child something all the time but also a lot of teaching and sharing.
I'm pretty sure you're a really great grandma anyway Awful and already know these things. :)

[peekaboo]

sleep overs at grammas and granpas.

[Dezgn8veDriver]

A lot of unconditional love, hugs and teaching....:2:...Oh one more thing, a good Gwandma also has a special "treasure chest" full of fun goodies and treats only for grand-baby's enjoyment....;).

[ron red eagle]

Re: What Makes for a Good Gramma?

Originally posted by Awful_Mnom_Woman
My dad's mom was kinda distant because my dad had a wife and family and my mom's mom was sweet as sugar, but she died in front of me when I was four years old.

What I want to know is, any and all suggestions for being a "good" gramma. I made being a mom my all, and now I have this new role, which I love, and appreciate any and all suggestions. I don't want to over spoil my baby girl by giving her something each time I see her so I have to resist that urge, even though it is strong.

I welcome your input. waewaenen. :)

I'd like to help you, but I wasn't allowed to know my gram on my mom's side to much, my s#!+head father didn't like her, so there's that, the other gramma, I care not much for becuase of the way she treated us. but I'd say, spoil her with love and treat her like one of yer own babies, cept this one, you can give back to mama and daddy

[bushy_braids]

CANDY! grammas ALWAYS have candy! cookies too!
and stories of course... storytime is the BEST! i still like to hear my kaalay's stories.
what would also be a cool thing is like a "craft" time... make something w/ur lil' one... then you can teach 'em young how to bead, design, all that fun stuff
and have all the fun stuff @ your house, like color books, picture books, cool movies, yummy food...

[Gah-Gah!]

I always loved baking cookies :2: :2: with my Grandma!! I miss those days!! :Cry Grandma's house smelling like cookies MMM~MMM~MMM!!

[Awful_Mnom_Woman]

Yay! good stuff, waewaenen, powwow.com fam :)

[superndngyrl]

my nephew is so lucky. His grandma spoils him and also knows how to be firm w/him too. He gets much love and hugs from her... she's very supportive of whatever he wants to do.

He just learned to tie shoes and grandma let him tie all the shoes he wanted. :)

Um lets see.... Grandmas are good for when the lil ones are mad at their mommies... grandmas get to set them straight...

Oh yea someone mentioned the stories! I love hearing all the stories grandma has to tell him.

a good gramma knows how to give hugs and smiles and much love -- that sums it up.

[Kakeeya]

Of course a lot of playing and tickling as a requirement for all grandparents! My grandbaby jumps on my lap and starts tickling me, when I try to get up, she pushes me back down and says "I'm gonna get ya, I'm gonna get ya" just like Dorie from Finding Nemo. Cracks me up! :Chatter

[VIP4life]

Both sets of kokum's pasted away before I was born, so I really missed out. I have a few of my mommy's aunts and they are the best. Stuffing my face with sweets. Shuffing gas money in my hand. Always having kind words when I need them. Telling me to not give up on school and to call home more often.:p

[theepowwowchic49]

Grammys

are the best to run to when the momand dad are upset at you for giving the cat a hair cut or a dye job.
Grammys are for running to the mail box down the road knowing they sent you a card for no reason at all.grammys are always there to tell you storys about what your mom or dad did when they were kids.grammys are the prettiest things and out beat a bouqet of flowers hands down