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“My family really does come first. It always did and always will.”- Meryl Streep and I agree!

It had been over 15 years since I helped with homework and I was an average student.

I thought to myself-OK it can’t be that bad. But I was wrong. I knew I was in trouble when Ivie came home from school and said “Grandma I need to know how to calculate metrics in these math problems”. Oh boy! I said “Ivie I never learned metrics” Ivie looked panicked, “but your Grandpa uses metrics everyday at work”. Thank Goodness! She then looked relieved.

When Alan came home from work they went running to him. He was so excited to see them. Ivie then asked him about metrics, Alan said sure I will show you how to figure that out. Ivie turned and smiled at me.

excerpt from the book – Deployed Grandparents being Parents

I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear- Oprah Winfrey

“ Being a grandparent is a fun roll, being a parent is responsibility and I learned how to balance it out, even if I cried and laughed at myself during the process.”- excerpt from a book Deployed Grandparents being Parents

This was the scariest time of my life but my love for my granddaughters over came all my fears. My granddaughters were depending on a us and this allowed me to forget the real situation we were in, and just focus on them.

Making the children’s birthday special

We always made our children feel special when it was their birthday. The birthday person would not have to do their daily chores on their birthday. Such as, not having to make their bed, dump trash or do the dishes. The birthday person would also choose what meals they wanted that day. Not what I had planned for dinner.

My children knew that what meals I prepared was what you got. No complaining, you just had to deal with it. So this was a big deal to to be able to select what you wanted. The birthday person really enjoyed selecting what the entire family was going to have for dinner.

When our granddaughters were living with us I followed the same tradition. Since my granddaughters birthdays were during the school year, they really thought that was special. to celebrate their birthday with their classroom I made cupcakes for the entire classroom. They cold hardly wait to take the cupcakes to school, so they could share the special day with their teacher and classmates.

It’s simple things that made my granddaughter’s birthdays special when their mom was deployed.