Rapid recovery

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late night phone call

Grandmothers and others know few things prompt panic in a parent's or grandparent's heart quite like a late-night phone call or text from a child. Even an adult child.

I received one such scary communication from my daughter Megan — mom to my grandsons — last Friday night. Granted, it was only 8:30 in the evening, 7:30 her time, but that's not a time my long-distance daughter and I typically talk or text. So my heart indeed flip-flopped a few times upon hearing her ringtone.

Camden hurt himself, she told me.

Long story short: The rambunctious kid had been rambunctioning about (my word) and demonstrating to big brother Brayden how awesome he was at holding his breath. Resulting in Camden — briefly — passing out. And landing, unconscious, on his head on the hard stone tile flooring found throughout much of their house. A tremendous goose egg on his head served as reward for the frightening feat.

Thankfully Megan's sister-in-law is a pediatrician, so...

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I say that shutting up is hard to do

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Dear Mr. Sedaka,

You were so right. I know that it's true. Breaking up is hard to do. Especially for teens, when true love seems a fickle, heartbreaking foe.

I do know how difficult breaking up can be. I've been there, done that. Long, long ago, admittedly one of the billions of boomers who once sang away heartbreak blues crooning along to your catchy, comforting tune.

I'm decades removed from being a youngster longing for love. And in the years since breakups with beaus broke my heart, I've found something more difficult to do than breaking up, Mr. Sedaka. And that's shutting up.

Trust me: It's waaaay harder to do than breaking up.

I'm not talking about shutting up regarding social or personal injustice. No one should ...

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On adult children: Learning the boundaries of communication (guest post)

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Dear readers: This guest post was written by my grandma friend and fellow GRANDparent Network member Donne Davis of GaGa Sisterhood. Thank you so much for sharing this wisdom on the tricky-at-times relationship between parents and their adult children, Donne.

mother and adult daughter

When it comes to communicating with your adult children, where do you get stuck? I posed this question to the 25 GaGas attending our January 15 meeting and added, is it around discipline, visitation, values or boundaries?

All of the above, and more, they answered. One member said: “All I have to do is open my mouth and my son misinterprets what I’m saying.” Another joked: “OMG! Just asking ‘how are you’ can trigger...

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Pool party!

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Pool party!

Pool parties have long been a favorite way for kids to celebrate their birthdays, whether it be in their own backyard swimming pool or a paid party option at the local public swimming spot.

My daughters never got to have a pool party for their birthdays when I was in charge of party planning. In part because I can't swim and the thought of being responsible for little ones bobbing about in a body of water, large or small, scared the bejeezus out of me.

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Musing elsewhere: Thoughts on my daughter's miscarriage (PurpleClover.com)

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Thoughts on my daughter's miscarriage

Published October 18, 2015 on PurpleClover.com

purpleclover.com

My daughter lost her baby last week. A miscarriage in the first trimester.

Coming from an abundantly fertile family, it's hard to wrap my head around that. My mom had seven children. Three of my sisters had several children, and a number of those kids had kids. I had three children myself, and my middle child had three children, too.

All of us had no problem. Yet it's a problem for my oldest child, Brianna.

"Problem" doesn't come close to accurately describing the fertility challenge for my daughter. A dead baby is far more than a problem. It's a painful, traumatic, inexplicable loss.

My 33-year-old daughter, who learned just this past year that her chances for conceiving and delivering a child are sadly...

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