Grandmotherhood

Grandmamas
I was watching the NFL draft on this past weekend. It was good. I watched a report that was aired about JaMarcus Russell, the #1 pick of NFL draft.

In the piece they showed all of his family and they talked about his home life. During one of the segments of the piece, JaMarcus was sitting in a chair in his grandmother's house. She was standing right behind him. He said something like, "This used to be a house where there was always something to eat. My grandmother used to cook all of the time. But when she thought I was getting fat, she stopped cooking." He laughed. His grandmother slapped him on the back of his head, hard. My husband and I both fell out laughing because that was such a grandmother move. I think JaMarcus is going to make it in the fast paced, star studded world of football with a grandmother like that.

Here he is about to be the #1 pick in the draft and his grandmother smacks him on the back of the head on national TV. That did my heart good to see that there are still grandmothers who are "REAL" grandmothers. The kind of grandmother, that still cooks and cleans. The kind of grandmother who will call you and make sure that you are eating right. The kind of grandmother, that will smack you upside the head if you get out of line. The kind of grandmother, that is matriarch of the family.

My maternal grandmother is like that when she isn't sick. We don't really have those kinds of grandmothers anymore, especially with grandmothers getting younger and younger. When I was a child, my grandmother was in her fifties. Now, grandmothers are in their early 40s and late 30s. That is so crazy.

If we had more "REAL" grandmothers (you know like your Big Mamma or your Memamma). I am talking about the grandmother that all the kids call Memamma, like my father's mother. She was crazy cool. Every one of my friends called her Memamma. She used to give all of us candy when she saw us. It was so cool. The world would be a better place if we had more "REAL" grandmothers in it.

Old Enough to Be Somebody's Grandmamma
My husband and I went to pick up our tickets for Spiderman 3, which comes out on May 4. (Yes, we get them early. He likes to get them early.) When we were walking up to the theater, there was a car with two teenagers (male & female) sitting in it. I am not sure what they were doing in the car, but from where I was looking, they looked like they were up to no good, if you know what I mean. I made a face. My husband said, "You should go up to the car and give them a look." I said, "Yea, by today's standards, I am old enough to be their mother." He said, "Yea, you are old enough to be a grandmother by today's standards."

Heaven Help Me, Please
I am 36 years old. I could be the mother of a 20 year-old person by today's standards. Actually, I could be the mother of someone even older than that. That in turn, means I could have a grandchild that is as old as one of my students (ages 3-4).

The more I think about it, the crazier it makes me feel. I could possibly be the grandmother of one of my students. What in the world is going on?

I have to shake my head every time I think about it. In all honest, I would be a cool grandmother, but I don't want to be one. I mean, I could play PlayStation with my grandchild. I could IM and email my grandchild. I could even discuss a Cover Two defense and the triangle offense with my grandchild. Here's the thing to consider… Why in the world would I want to be a grandmother at 36?

Grandmothers are supposed to be in their late 50s, early 60s. They are supposed to be at a point in their lives where they can sit at home and enjoy their grandchildren, not out hustling trying to make a couple of dollars themselves.

It only makes sense, everyone else in life is getting younger, athletes, models, singers, artists, and preachers; why not grandmothers?

As a foot note, just so you won't think I am crazy. My husband has a friend from his hometown who is a grandmother and she is my age and has a grandchild.