Leanne Morgan

Grandma

~ MaryG ~ 19 Comments

My granddaughter is perfect.

There’s no feeling like holding your first grandchild for the first time. It’s an experience of pure love. It’s a bit different than the new parent feeling of baby love, which is such a huge life-altering event. (Your life is ever after divided into two parts—before and after.)

Becoming a grandparent is just a…gift. A gift from the universe. I’m crying as I write this. I don’t love the word “blessed” because of its association with traditional Christianity, but…I mean…heck… it sure does apply here.

I’ve been searching for quotes about becoming a grandparent that resonate. I kind of like this one:

“Grandchildren are the reward for those who have labored as parents.”

But I don’t love the word “reward” in it. Children are not rewards.

Becoming a grandparent is just awesome. That’s all I can say. I know I’m very lucky too. For whatever reasons, the birthrate is way down in the US. A significant number of millennials are choosing not to have children. I’m just so fortunate that my wonderful daughter and her partner have chosen to take the parenthood plunge.

And some practical advice for new grandmothers (based on my one week of experience):

Don’t be annoying.

Be helpful.

Let the parents figure out how to feed and care for their brand new baby. Do your best to take care of the parents—with meals, cleaning, recycling boxes, and whatever else they obviously need. Some ideas have changed since we had kids, especially around bottle vs breast “nipple confusion.” Don’t assert yourself too hard with your old ideas. And don’t say any of those annoying things that all mothers have up their sleeve! Tell the parents how awesome they’re doing at life’s hardest job.

One thing you will always be 100% in agreement on is that their baby (“our” baby 😉) is the cutest baby.

I’ve mentioned before how much I enjoyed the Leanne Morgan comedy special “I’m Every Woman” on Netflix. This bit about becoming a grandma is one of my favorite parts 😂🤣😂

Reviews

~ MaryG ~ 5 Comments

I did a bunch of GenX things last weekend:

1) Went to see a cover band. The band was called Tusk and they are a Fleetwood Mac Tribute band. They were really great musicians and played all the songs really well. It was a beautiful, warm night. I danced and had fun. Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album came out in 1977 and it was my junior high jam. I loved that album so much. I did my majorettes try-out to “Second Hand News.” Hearing it all again, 47 years later, I have to admit, it’s yacht rock.

Tusk playing “Go Your Own Way” – don’t they sound just like Fleetwood Mac?

2) Went to see Fly Me To The Moon in a movie theater. All the movies out this summer seem like they’re for twenty-somethings. This one looked like it was geared for my age group and it was. If you ever drank Tang or Tab, this movie is for you. I thought it was very entertaining. ScarJo’s luminous beauty, the US space program of the 1960s, and a couple of very solid jabs at the Nixon administration were highlights for me. On the downside, the portrayal of the creative, gay movie director seemed like an over-the-top caricature, complete with ascots and limp wrists. Also, the whole plot seemed to feed into the whacko, conspiracy-theory, alt-reality culture we’re now living in.

When we came out of the movie, I had texts from both of my kids telling me Trump had almost been iced. A quick social media search revealed that Trump had stood up after the shooting and dramatically urged the crowd to “fight” and Republicans were blaming Democrats for the entire thing. Conspiracy theories were already in full bloom.

3) On Sunday night, with a growing sense of despair about the inevitability of the United States’ descent into right-wing madness, I happened to watch a Netflix comedy special and it was SO FUNNY. I laughed and laughed. Leanne Morgan was the only female comedian who appeared in the lineup of Netflix specials, so I took a chance on her and I’m so glad I did. She’s exactly my age (born in 1965) and I just loved her references to the 80s and all things wife/mother/grandmother-related. She avoids politics entirely. This bit about Dexatrim being speed had me in tears.

Highly recommend