topic Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you. in Community Chat

Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

sfnative — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:15:14 GMT

I was shipped back to the farm in Michigan to spend many summers on my maternal grandparents farm. Being a city girl, this sure was a 180 experience and to say I learned a lot is an understatement.

My Grandma Grace, amongst other things, was in charge of the chickens and the coup. The first summer I spent with them as a 7 year old, she taught me how to be stealthy around the hens. She told me to approach them in their roost as if I hadn't a care in the world, then very slowly raise my hand, place it under the hen with the top side of my hand up, move my hand forward til I touched the egg, move very slowly to grasp the egg and then pull back my hand and step away slowly. I was warned that the hen may peck at my hand if I wasn't too careful.

All these years that lesson has stayed with me and I haven't been near a chicken since we no long stayed on their farm. Great lesson, though.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

croemer — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:20:46 GMT

I did not get to spend much time with my mother's mother( she lived across the country)...though I know many stories about how hard life was for her for most of her life. She was an awesome cook and while she would visit in her later years I had her help me with some of my favorite recipes...like fried chicken and gravy...two of my favs.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

hckynut — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:38:37 GMT

Only had a maternal grandmother and what I learned from her is not flattering to her. While I loved her because she was the mother of my mom, the way she treated my mother/my sisters, and myself was very sad. She pretty much disowned my mother because of her choice of a spouse, and us kids pretty much were collateral damage. Money/ wealth and expensive "things" seemed more important to her than family, and when she allowed us children to visit her, she made this very apparent with her "house rules". Don't touch this/don't step on this rug/ don'tbsit on that chair and so on. Needless to say none of us were too eager to visit her in her home. Since we lived in "Public Housing Projects" no way she would be seen in that part of town. Maybe that is why money was not or is not that important to me and how I treat others happens to be. Not an uplifting story for sure, but I never the less thought I would share it.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Irshgrl31201 — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 06:43:37 GMT

Wow, SFnative, that sounds great. I think the lessons you would learn on a farm would be very beneficial in other aspects of life.

I didn't really see my mothers mom a whole lot when I was growing up. My maternal grandparents lived in Oklahoma and while my mother was pretty close to her father, she wasn't with her mother. She was never really happy and wasn't very nice to be around. She blamed everyone for her problems and did nothing to improve her situation. She thought it was up to my grandfather to make her happy. My grandparents were originally from Buffalo, NY but my grandfather worked for the post office and wanted to be transferred to CA and got a transfer to OKC and took it thinking he would later wait and receive another transfer to CA but they just stayed there. My grandfather was a great man, full of energy and a very hard worker. He was a Golden Gloves boxing champion who was an extremely hard worker who always saw the positive side of things. My grandmother literally taught me nothing except for maybe happiness isn't going to drop in your lap, you have to go out there and make your own happiness because it isn't going to drop in your lap.

I was very close with my dads mom. She lived in Miami where my dad grew up. She was definitely the fun grandma. Her name was Della and we called her Disco Della. She was the kindest woman you could ever meet. I honestly never heard her say a bad word about anyone. My mother was closer to her than she was her own mother. My grandmother was born in the Bahamas and met my dads father when he was there visiting. Her family was very poor my dads father treated her terribly. He divorced her and got custody of my father but she kept fighting for him and when my dads father remarried, he didn't to be weighed down by my father. My grandmother wasn't very sophisticated or worldly but she had a heart of gold. She was an excellent cook and I do mean excellent. She would come to visit with us and stay for the whole summer. We weren't allowed junk food growing up but when she came up to visit us she would bring a whole grocery bag full of candy bars and other candy and my mom would lets us have those. That is exciting stuff to a 6 yr old kid. When she would come to visit she would let me cook with her. We would spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking up big dinners. She taught me how to play poker and gin rummy and other card games. She enjoyed her drinks and when I was around 8 she taught me how to make her drinks and each night she would have 2 drinks and I would make them and she tipped me $5 for every drink.

I miss her very much. She taught me what I wanted to emulate when I became a grandmother. No, I probably won't have my grandson mix my alcoholic beverages but that was a different time. When I think of my grandmother, I have the best memories of our closeness. How we shared a room when she came to visit and at night we would lay in bed and she would tell me stories about when she was growing up. It is all so positive and I hope more than anything that when my grandson grows up, he has 1/2 the good memories of me like I have with her.

My grandmother wasn't rich at all. My maternal grandparents did come to have money and they bought me nice and extravagant gifts while my paternal grandmother could not afford that stuff at all. What she gave me was so much more valuable than an expensive present. She made me feel important because she spent so much time with me and she really liked to be with me. She has been dead for 25 yrs now and I miss her so much.

I hope so much that my grandson will feel this way about me. She was a great woman and taught me so how much influence a grandparent can have on a grandchild just by simply being there and paying attention.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

raven-blackbird — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 08:07:17 GMT

I was raised by grandparents and we lived on a farm........so that was everyday stuff to us.......the one thing my grandmother taught me was something she felt strongly about.........and that was.........no matter, what anyone says, you can do anything you put your mind to.........she raised five girls......in a time where there were "men" jobs.....and "women" jobs..........she never raised a single one of us with the notion that separation existed........some of us girls like outside stuff, so we worked the farm......and the others like "inside" stuff, so they helped with the washing, cleaning........and that was find with grandma...........you were allowed to find your niche and explore it.......................................raven

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Preds — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 15:26:16 GMT

I learned that I didn't want to be like my grandmothers. I loved them, but they were very selfish, cold, spiteful women.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Still Raining — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:12:23 GMT

My paternal grandmother never came downstairs until she was perfectly dressed and made up. Lipstick, heels, stockings, slip, dress, and perm in place. Such a challenge for me.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Marienkaefer2 — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:27:08 GMT

My grandmother was a hard worker. My grandparents came to the US from Italy. My grandmother was a maid and nanny, janitor, and factory worker, most of the time working two jobs at once. My grandfather worked in restaurant kitchens. When the US entered WWII, my grandfather wasn't eligible for service because his left hand was missing a finger (result of playing with discarded ammunition from WWI in a field near his house when he was a boy.) So he managed to take a shipbuilding/repair course, and got a job in the shipyards repairing ships damaged in the war. It was the first time they earned a bit more money, and they saved it and after the war opened a hardware/building business together, which became extremely successful. My grandparents were married 75 years, and always worked side by side. My grandmother could dress up in the prettiest dress and shoes. On the other hand, she could lift, carry, saw, hammer well as any man. I guess what I learned from my grandmother is a love of pretty clothes and the value of hard work.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Puzzle Piece — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:36:25 GMT

Sorry, grandmas weren't around very long.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

deepwaterdotter — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 16:39:52 GMT

She taught me racial tolerance during the 1960's in her inner-city neighborhood. She also taught me hand embroidery.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

nafecar — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:10:29 GMT

My Grandmother taught me a lot of things but the one thing I remember most was when I was in my beauty contest , talent show era and thought I was "the cats meow" she sat me down one day while she was making another one of my costumes and said to me "pretty is as pretty does." That has stuck with me all these many many years. I don't always succeed but I try.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

AnikaBrodie — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:19:28 GMT

My maternal grandmother taught me, by example, dignity for myself and respect for others. She also taught me to laugh; she spoke PA Dutch fluently and I can remember going to visit her and asking her to speak Dutch as soon as I arrived. She did and we always had a good laugh. I learned just a few Dutch words.

I did not know my paternal grandmother. She died before I was born.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

colliegirls — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:24:31 GMT

My only living grandmother was a grump. Learned that I didn't want to be like her to my children or grandchildren (some day).

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Autumn in NY — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 17:42:15 GMT

My grandmother had a mystery illness. Back in the day, doctors had no idea what it was and she was bedridden most of the time. She was told by her family and doctors that it was all in her head (psychosomatic). It turns out all of her symptoms were exactly like the ones Fibromyalgia sufferers experience. I've learned that when someone says they don't feel well, believe them.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

DoneTryin — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 18:34:19 GMT

Both of my paternal grandmothers (yes, birth father & then step-father) set an example of working hard at whatever they did. Maternal grandmother set an example of always taking care with one's appearance, even when casually dressed & just hanging out at home.

I miss all of them!

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

Libbylady — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 20:45:19 GMT

My Paternal Grandmother died when my father was a teenager. I don't think I ever met the step-grandmother.

My mothers mother died when I was about 5 and I only met her once. The only memory I have was getting a very hearty spanking for coming downstairs in my nightgown. She was very ""religious"" and apparently that was a sin. Who knew?!

Not having grandparents made me want to provide a legacy for my 5 grandchildren that is full of funny stories and good memories.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

bikerbabe — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 20:50:37 GMT

I never met my grandparents.

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

MickD — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 20:57:42 GMT

Polish....fluent at age 2/3....my mom couldn't understand a word I said....had to wait until my dad came home from work....haha...I can't remember a lick of it now.....bummer. ....fluent for a 2/3 year old for gawds sake....not adult fluent.....jeez....

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

sophiamarie — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 21:01:05 GMT

""Don't believe most of what you read on a Bulletin Board""........

Re: Tell us something interesting or challenging that your grandmother(s) taught you.

straykatz — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 21:12:01 GMT

My grandmother made the biggest fluffiest best biscuits ever!!.....and she taught me how to make mine big and fluffy and not lopsided just like hers.