Picture this: Peace, courtesy a bug

I've been rather frazzled of late for a variety of reasons, the kind of frazzling that hurts the jaw when you realize come end of day that you've been gritting your teeth for hours. Yeah, that kind of frazzling.

Last Thursday, amidst the frazzle and dazzle, I went outside to bring the garbage can back from the road and nearly stepped on this as I headed back inside:

I grabbed my camera. I Googled. I was floored. Yes, that's a praying mantis. I've lived in Colorado more than 40 years and have never, ever seen one. So I did what anyone would do: I posted it on Facebook. I got several "Wow!" comments plus a couple from fellow Coloradans sharing how they once-upon-a-time saw a praying mantis in Colorado. And I got a comment from my friend Ruth directing me to read this:

The mantis comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives. Usually the mantis makes an appearance when we've flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us because of the external din we've created.

<snip for length and copyright reasons>

An appearance from the mantis is a message to be still, go within, meditate, get quiet and reach a place of calm. It may also a sign for you to be more mindful of the choices you are making and confirm that these choices are congruent.

— from http://www.whats-your-sign.com/animal-symbolism-mantis.html

It brought tears to my eyes. And it brought me peace... courtesy a bug.

Today's question:

What brings you peace during frazzled times?

Help wanted: Shattering the grandma stereotype

Do you feel marginalized, ignored, stereotyped when it comes to your role as a grandparent? Are you fed up with brands presenting erroneous and ageist advertisements that mock grandmas in unrealistic and ridiculous ways (how many times can we stomach the unoriginal, "this ain't your grandma's whatever" in an ad?) or brands that completely ignore grandmas in their marketing efforts?

I'm fed up with both. I'm especially fed up with the stereotyping of grandmas across the board, not just by ignorant brands, but by any and all in the media who think grandmas are nothing but old grannies sitting in their rockers, knitting their lives away. I'm talking about those perpetuating the myth that grandmothers look like this...

(screenshot of Google result)... instead of this...

Those are real, live grandmas above, a sampling of the grandmas I've featured as Grilled Grandmas here on Grandma's Briefs. If those lovely, vibrant women are what grandmas look like, why does a Google search for "grandma" result in — at the very top of the list — the inaccurate caricatures I show in the screenshot above? Gah... the frustration.

You've heard me complain about this in the past, especially by way of my The grandma in a box post I published here a while back. There has been some progress made since I wrote that post nearly a year ago. For one thing, The grandma in a box was named in the 2013 BlogHer Voices of the Year as the People's Choice selection in the humor category. That post and I — along with 99 other well-deserving bloggers and their works — will be honored in the VOTY Community Keynote and Cocktail Reception Friday evening, hosted by none other than Queen Latifah. (Does that mean I get to shake her hand, hear her call my name, find out if she read my post? I don't know... but I'll share with you what I find out!)

That post is my fed-up-grandma story, though, and I want to hear your story, want to consider ways in which grandmothers and grandfathers may feel marginalized, left out, stereotyped, especially by brands, in advertisements and otherwise. I want to keep those things in mind while at BlogHer the end of this week, possibly even share a few of your stories and suggestions with the brands I connect with, in hopes the erroneous and outdated grandma stereotype will be shattered, that brands big and small will get that the grandparent demographic — grandmas and grandpas — matters... and carries with it a large amount of disposable income they spend regularly on themselves and their loved ones.

We all have a unique story, all have ways we relish being a grandparent, as well as ways we feel the title gets in the way when people look at us, consider us. I want to hear about the latter from you, today — your gripes and complaints about the grandma stereotype. I'd like to add your story to my story, carry it with me as I do my best to represent grandparent bloggers at BlogHer.

Sure, there will be other grandma bloggers at the conference, but I'm not sure how many will be proudly waving the grandma flag. I plan to proudly wave that flag in hopes of making you proud, in hopes of making things even just a wee bit better — and realistic — for all of us grandparents, at least in terms of how brands view us, represent us.

So my question for you today is this:

In what ways do you feel marginalized, stereotyped, ignored, erroneously represented by brands, marketers and media? Feel free to be as long or as brief as you like, just please be honest and real. Feel free to offer suggestions for improvement in the area for the brands, too, if you'd like. I'll share what I can.

Thank you for your stories and suggestions and for helping me (try to) make a difference for our grandmahood (which, I'm happy to report, includes a few grandpas, too!).

The Ultimate Life and GRAND Social No. 62

Welcome back, and welcome to the last full week of July! Sheesh... Where does the time go?

Last week, Jim and I had the opportunity to screen a movie that I thought many of you might appreciate and enjoy. It's called The Ultimate Life, and it serves as the sequel and prequel to 2006's popular The Ultimate Gift — though it works perfectly well as a stand-alone story, so no worries if you've not seen the first.

One reason I think The Ultimate Life will appeal to many Grandma's Briefs readers is because one's legacy — what we pass to our loved ones — is a primary theme of the film. Other themes, all of which are good to reinforce in ourselves and in our families, include thankfulness, contentment, relationship, stewardship, and purpose. (Plus, Peter Fonda plays a minor character — always a major bonus.)

Here's the official trailer for The Ultimate Life, directed by Michael Landon Jr.:

The Ultimate Life, rated PG, opens in theaters Sept. 6. You can learn more on the official The Ultimate Life website and Facebook page or by following @UltimateLifemov on Twitter.

(Though I was invited to attend the free screening of the film with no obligation, I am obligated to note that I've received no compensation for sharing this with you.)

I look forward to hearing thoughts from those who see The Ultimate Life after it opens Sept. 6.

I also look forward to enjoying the posts from those participating in this week's GRAND Social! Thank you so much for joining me — and for reading one another's links and supporting one another in this crazy biz (or hobby) we call blogging.

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, just be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up a post, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue button marked with "Add your link" below and follow the directions.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention such as This post linked to the GRAND Social to your linked posts is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a href="/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.

• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Bloggers who link up would be honored to have one and all — other bloggers as well as readers — visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social."

• For another grandparent linky, visit Connie's Grandparent's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday.

What I learned this week: Pepperoni Bird beats out Bomb Bird

My grandsons love, love, love Angry Birds.

When I visited my grandsons last April, Mac delighted in his Angry Birds crackers.

When Bubby had his birthday in June, he was thrilled to receive from Gramma and PawDad a stuffed Bomb Bird — has all-time fave Angry Bird — to play with indoors plus a Bomb Bird wind chime to listen to outdoors.

And then there's the Angry Birds tattoos I told you all about last week.

Yes, my grandsons love, love, love Angry Birds.

Bubby plays Angry Birds on Daddy's iPhone every chance he gets. Sometimes he gives Mac a turn at playing it, too. Amazingly, Mac — who just turned 2 in June — actually knows what to do.

Considering their obsession with love for the grumpy feathered friends, I knew when I saw this Angry Birds pizza on the Gombby Facebook page a while back that I just had to surprise Bubby and Mac with it during my recent visit.

Now, I don't really know a darn thing about Angry Birds, other than the black one is named Bomb Bird. I have never played the game, have seen just snippets while Bubby and Mac played. Still, I think I managed to pull off the Angry Birds look fairly well — despite using a hard-boiled egg for the eyeballs instead of the mushrooms that were supposed to be there. (Meh... mushrooms or eggs, the boys would eat neither anyway, so why waste the money on mushrooms that would be pitched before the pizza was cut?)

I told the boys the pizza was named "Pepperoni Bird." They seemed pretty pleased with the moniker as well as the overall look of their surprise pizza.

Sure, it wasn't quite as cool as a Bomb Bird pizza might have been. But I have no doubt that despite looking Angry Bird awesome, a pizza covered with black olives would have gone directly into the garbage quicker than those boiled-egg eyes did.

Bomb Bird may be a hit in the game — and as a stuffed toy and a wind chime, too — but when it comes to pizza, Pepperoni Bird always wins out.

And that is what I learned this week.

Have a lovely weekend! See ya back here Monday for the GRAND Social and more!

Today's question:

How would you rate your Angry Birds skills?

Newfound skills

Hard to believe, but one week from today, Grandma's Briefs will be four years old.

My very first post, published July 25, 2009, featured a Bubby that looked just like this:

Now, four years later, here is that precious baby boy displaying for Gramma some of his newfound skills:

I'm pretty proud of how far Grandma's Briefs has come since that first post four years ago. I'm even more proud of how far Bubby has come since that first post four years ago.

The kid is indeed awesome... times four and more!

Today's question:

Of Bubby's newfound skills, which are you best at?