3900 Saturdays

One of my friends sent this to me and I wanted to share. Although it is from a guy's point of view I think we grandmas can appreciate it, too. Maybe pass it on to your kids. *smile*

MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK!!

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.

Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital' he continued. 'Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'

'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.'

'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.'

'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.'

'There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.'

'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.'

'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!'

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on' she asked with a smile.' 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.'

Have a Wonderful Father's Day to all your grandpas out there!

Joyce aka Nana

We're Back in Business!

The baby is finally feeling better and so is Nana! LOL This seems to go hand in hand these days. Baby feels good, Nana feels good. Baby feels bad, Nana is sad.

He has been squealing and laughing all day long. He is teething so he is biting everything and I mean everything. He even bit the cat! I am sure glad the cat is laid back or I'm afraid we would have to get rid of a cat...cause ain't no way we're getting rid of baby!

My husband, our 13-year-old, my mother and I share a home since my father died 3 1/2 years ago and my mother cannot live alone. We have a cat, Fireball, and she is really a good cat, but my mother cannot stand her because she is an indoor cat and my mother says animals belong outside, period. It has been an adjustment for her and since we had the cat since she was six weeks old and she is now 7 years old, we could not be expected to get rid her, right? Well, of course, Fireball picks my mother's furniture to sharpen her claws on and drives my mother absolutely crazy. (Me, too, but I don't let her know that. *smile*.) I think Fireball has finally figured out it is just better to leave the furniture alone.

The baby has decided that he has the favorite table to teeth on and guess what? Yep, you've got it, it is one of my mother's table. I had said, if it was my table the baby could gnaw it to the floor for all I care, but I really try to keep him off the table that belongs to his great-grandmother.

Well, yep, you got that too, she was in the living room and he pulls up and starts to chew....I, being a good Nana, gently tell him no and go move him. Well! You would have thought I beat him and put him outside or something! Great-grandmother proceeds to tell me it is HER table and if that baby wants to chew on it he can chew it to the floor! (ROFLOL)

Here I have been so careful to make sure he does NOT chew on the table and of course, she says he can! I just kind of looked stunned and said, well, okay.

Really, since this the only one of her great-grandchildren she has ever been able to spend much time with she just ADORES him. And of course, he can do no wrong. It is really sweet to see them together and I am glad that God has given us this blessing to share.

So as we're back in business of having "fun" with the little one and what a glorious day that makes this.

Until next time have a GREAT weekend and feel free to comment your grandkid stories!

Joyce aka Nana
Rights For Grandparents Blog

Some Days Being a Nana is Rough

My grandbaby, who is 8 months old, spent the night last night. He was precious and sweet as usual but much calmer than he usually is. He is a good baby but very, very active so he keeps me on my toes, usually.

He took a long nap in the evening so I was prepared for a midnight bedtime but to my surprise he was ready for bed by 10:00. He has been teething so I thought, well, maybe he is just needing more rest right now.

I gave him his nighttime bottle and put him to bed. When I awoke at 3:00 a.m. with the cat meowing to go out to "cat around" I checked on him and he seemed fine. I put a light blanket on him and went back to bed. He stays in my room in his play yard, we called them playpens but I think someone didn't like the word pen, so I hear every move he makes.

When I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and realized I hadn't heard a thing from him all night I got up and once again checked on him. He appeared to be fine so I thought I would go back to bed for a bit because I knew he would surely be up soon. I checked on his several more times and things seemed fine. I even moved him around a little thinking I would wake him. I was ready for my morning snuggle with him. *smile*

Once it was 8:00 and he still had not awaken I decided I was just going to get him up. Well, he was burning up! I got him up and immediately gave him some fever reducer, juice and took his temperature. It was 101.5! And the sweet little thing was just smiling at me and loving me with those little hands. Just melts me.

I called his mother, my daughter, and told her what was going on. I told her the fever had gone down and I would just keep an eye on him and let her know if things got worse.

Early afternoon she came over and he was sleeping so she just decided to stay for a while and goof off and let him sleep. (And I think let Nana take care of him, which was fine with me.)

Around 4:00 his fever shot up again, this time to 102.5 so she called the doctor. I told her it was probably a virus because he had not exhibited any other symptoms such as pulling his ears, crying, etc. The doctor said to bring him in at 6:30 p.m. as long as we could get the fever down and if it shot up again and we couldn't get it down to take him to the emergency room.

We were able to keep it around 99 to 100 until time to go to the doctor. By that time I was quite emotional and my husband and I decided that she and the baby's father just needed to go ahead and take him and I would stay home.

So the story goes, he has a virus and the doctor will check him tomorrow. He has a very protective doctor because when he was 2 months old he was in the hospital with pneumonia and whooping cough for a week. He always sees him no matter what day or time of day it is. Pretty dedicated doctor I think.

Having raised four children I have been through this so many times and I was pretty sure it was a virus but it's good to have a doctor confirm. I don't think that it bothers me so much that he is sick, I have been through that over and over with my own children, but that he is at home, where he should be, with his mommy and daddy and they are taking care of him instead of me. LOL I just know he will grow so fast and won't be a baby very long at all. I want to enjoy every second I am with him.

I am thankful that my daughter will share him with us the way she does. We usually get him overnight every Friday night and usually any other day or night I want him. I think the rough part of being a Nana is having to let him go home. *smile*

This little one has stolen my heart. :0) I am so thankful to God for him!

Have a GREAT weekend and God Bless you and yours.

Joyce aka Nana

Grandparents Do Have Rights When it Comes to Grandchildren

Today I wanted to touch on a subject that seems to be one that is coming up more and more every year in the United States and Canada. This is grandparents rights to their grandchildren. Up until a few years ago courts did not recognize grandparents as having any rights to see their grandchildren but things are different nowadays and the courts have realized, thank goodness, that these children NEED their grandparents.

Sometimes there are grandparents that are not fit to be around the children and the courts can usually sort this out, just as they can usually sort out a parent that is not fit to be around the children. Besides, most grandparents that are not fit to be around the children will not be seeking any type of visitation or custody for their grandchildren so this is very rare that the courts would find a grandparent not fit.

Many states have reach the conclusion that children need their grandparents and there are avenues we can take now to protect our grandchildren. Check with you state to see what your rights are.

If you are finding yourself in a situation where you feel you need to help your grandchildren then there is a very good publication that you might want to have a look at. It covers Grandparents' Rights for visitation and custody and much, much more. I will put the link here and please feel free to leave questions or comments here.

God Bless you and yours and have a GREAT day!

Joyce aka Nana

Grandparents Do Have Rights

I Said A Prayer For You

Last night I was thinking about how wonderful it is to have Grandchildren and my thoughts went to prayer for my Grandchildren. My prayer for them is this:

Dear God,

As I hold the hand of these little ones
I pray that You will watch over them.
I pray that You will give me the wisdom
To lead them as a Grandma should.
I pray as they grow and learn
That I will teach them as a Grandma should.
I pray as I watch them and delight in them
That I will remember they belong to You.

I pray that their life will be filled with happiness,
Although I know some sadness will come in their lives.
I pray that when this sadness comes that You
Will give them the strength to cope with it.
I pray that they will learn from their mistakes
And lean on You to get them through.

I pray that they will love like You teach us to love,
Have compassion, tenderness, and kindness with others.
I pray that You will help me to teach them these things
And know that You are their best friend and Heavenly Father.
That you love them and will take care of them all their lives
And be there for them when they need You.

God, I thank You for allowing these precious ones
To be part of my life.
I will love them guide them, and take care of them
To the best of my ability.
Thank you so much for all you do for us
And thank You for watching over these little ones.

Amen

Joyce aka Nana

Hello and Welcome to Grandmas For God

I decided to start this blog with the desire to pull grandmothers of all ages together to help each other in many ways. (We will even let grandpa's or none grandmothers in.) Whether you go by Grandmother, Grandma, Nana, Me-Maw, Granny, or any other name, your GRANDkids come up with for you, you are welcome here.

I hope as this blog is developed we will be able to come together and obtain greater happiness through helping others.

Please feel free to add encouraging comments to help others or if you need to talk about something feel free to do so here.

We as grandma's have so many opportunities to teach and help our GRANDkids. Here we can share those tips and struggles with each other. Making God the center of our lives is not always easy but if we strive to do that everyday he will bless us more and more.

Thanks for being a part of this and may God bless you and yours.

Joyce aka Nana