The following are children’s views on grandmothers quoted by Annejet Campbell in Listen to the Children. “They are fat but not too fat to tie your shoelaces. They wear glasses and sometimes they can take their teeth out.”  “My Grandma looks exactly like my Mom only more lumpy.”

To me, a mother of four, grandmother of eight and a great-grandmother of six the descriptions are eye-openers. Fat and lumpy grandmas bending down to tie shoelaces probably huffing and puffing in the process. Bespectacled grandmas doing some tricky things with their teeth. Certainly not flattering but decidedly funny, one can hardly suppress a chuckle.

Another quote says “A grandmother is a baby-sitter who watches kids instead of television.” The truth is, grandmas would love to watch television while baby-sitting, but dare not, for fear that history might repeat itself with Junior teetering precariously on the edge of a stool stretching for a jar of cookies, or trying out his crayons on the walls with criss-crossing lines and blotches.

Enough to trigger off a heart attack!
“Grandmas don’t mind reading the same story again and again.” There was a time when I read Dhondu and the Rotten Eggs over and over again, each reading made unique with innovative theatrical gestures. Google-eyed children loved it, always asking for repeat performances. How could one refuse?

However, this anonymous quote hurts. “More children are spoiled because the parents won't spank grandmas.”
To a grandma her grandchildren are the best in the world, who deserve that extra attention even if it means fussing over a hairline scratch on a small toe.

It is an outpouring of love, much appreciated judging by the e- mails, phone calls and mementoes I keep receiving from wherever they are. One of them was once asked “What’s your Grandma like?” Pat came the reply. “Oh! She’s cool!”

 The ultimate in new-age vocabulary. What more can a grandma ask for?