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Becoming a grandparent is among the best joys of being 50-plus. Just the lead up before the baby arrives has lots of joyful moments.
The Announcement by the Parents-to-Be
In our case, while there were hints by our older son, we were still surprised when he and his wife showed an ultrasound of our first grandson. That was the beginning of our journey to becoming a grandparent for the first time.
Our younger son and his wife were very coy about their pregnancy, not announcing until midway into the sixth month. The announcement came about a month and a half after our first grandson was born. They may have been keeping quiet so his brother and wife could bask in the glow of their new little one without competition.
They coyly announced the pregnancy by giving me a “grandkids make life grand” picture frame with my daughter-in-law’s ultrasound in it for Mother’s Day.
Now, with instant messaging, and Facebook, the word spreads fast. Our older son staged a gender reveal video and shared the moment with family and friends via our phones.
Baby Stuff Buying Spree
When I knew I was becoming a grandparent, my buying habits changed. I started looking for baby gear, instead of things for the house or my husband, or my self. Wow! the selection, and the prices have gone up. The variety is amazing, too. I tried to go for items that would be used for a while, and have multiple features. A playpen isn’t just a playpen anymore, it can have music and lights, and levels and attachments like a changing table and bassinet with a handle.
The windup baby swing that our kids had has been replaced by expensive multi-hundred dollar gently moving electronic seats and swings with dangling toys to catch the baby’s attention. Generous friends and family bought those for our grandsons. I discovered that the babies grow out of them by about seven months. My thrifty soul cringes at that.
One place that you may not think of for baby items, new as well as used, is eBay. Everytime I look there I am surprised at the prices and variety.
My chief buying has been books and clothes. I look for the slightly larger sizes as I figured both grandsons would grow out of the newborn/6 months clothing pretty quickly. I found a lot of great buys on brand names like Oshkosh and Carter’s by browsing the clearance racks and online clearance listings. We’ve had a lot of packages delivered in the last year that were mostly children’s items. Some things are just so darn cute. I show my husband things like little overalls or an outfit with a tiny bowtie, and he sucks in his breath, and says “God, yeah!”
I’ve particularly done well with buying from stores like Kohl’s and Macy’s where they give you rewards, and in Kohl’s case, Kohl’s cash, that I’ve used to buy more items for the babies, or for ourselves. Kohl’s even rewards you $5 for in-store pickup and Wednesday they give a discount to Seniors, which helps if your coupons don’t cover the day you shop. We live under 10 minutes away from those stores so pickups and returns aren’t a chore.
I mailed a box of clothes to South Carolina for grandson number one, which cost about $30, but I saved so much that it more than covered the postage.
Oh, and one place you might not think of for baby clothing is Tractor Supply. They have the cutest John Deer baby sox and baby clothes. They also have farm related toys. I’ve bought some not only for my grandkids, but also for my friends’ grandchildren there.
While I’ve found baby and kids books at thrift stores, I’ve also found some great buys online at The Book Outlet, too.
Baby Showers and Becoming a Grandparent
Well, as far as the baby showers, my daughter-in-laws mothers organized them. I helped mostly with the RSVP’s. Sadly, people aren’t good about replying to invitations, so you have to reach out to get a reply from those who you think would be more courteous. Sigh.
Many of the decorations for both showers were found on Etsy. This was great, due to shopping and availability of supplies being limited due to COVID19 restrictions.
One shower was in the cooler weather during the height of the COVID epidemic. It was a drive-by, stop for a few minutes, outdoor event. My daughter-in-law’s mother worked very hard on it. She beautifully decorated tables for refreshments and gifts. Boxed lunches, individual appetizers, and desserts were appealingly set up. Hot coffee and hot cocoa were made on demand. She even provided masks for everyone.
The second shower was held in July under a tent at a function facility on the waterfront. As the mother-to-be loves the beach and water, it was a nautical theme featuring whales, anchors, and blue for the baby. The mother of the mother-to-be found a lot of ideas and items on Etsy, like invitations and signs, to buy and download and print.
Day-of I helped with deploying balloons and taking photos of all the decorations and gifts. The signs, decorations, games, and favor bags and tags were all found on Etsy. Whoopie Pies are a New England favorite food, and one that my daughter-in-law likes, so I covered the cost of providing those treats as a take home treat.
Baby Gear for Babysitting
When becoming a grandparent, I started to think about getting ready for grandchildren.
As we live close to one of the grandsons, I do look for some items that will be helpful when they visit or we babysit. I did happen to see an electronic baby swing by Graco on the NextDoor app offered for free. The owner told me his daughter was seven months and had outgrown it. The cloth seat is removable and the cute little teddy bears that dangle above the seat and I took them off and washed them on the gentle cycle in the washing machine. I also washed the frame. The seat also detaches and has a rocker like stand so you can carry the baby around the house in it. It worked out great when one time we decided to eat dinner out on the patio. We just detached the seat and our grandson sat in it on the patio and was very comfortable and content.
I also found someone on NextDoor who offered a Graco carseat with the base that also came with a stroller with a toddler seat. So you can use either the carseat or the toddler seat in the stroller frame. The owner said his wife is nurse and they checked everything before offering them on NextDoor. The carseat still has four years to go, as far as recommended use by the manufacturer. Everything was very gently used and without stains. I washed and sanitized all surfaces.
Having a car seat is one thing, making sure that it is still O.K. to use and correctly installing it is another. They have changed a lot since our kids were babies. And now cars are equipped with tethers to better secure them and their bases, rather than just using a seat belt.
I found a lot of information on this U.S. Department of Transportation website. You can go to your local police department and ask them for help in correctly installing a car seat.
Note: I found both of the above on NextDoor by happenstance. I wasn’t looking for them. They both came from very nice and well kept homes in nicer neighborhoods.
Other Sources for Baby Items
You might not think it, but Aldi Supermarket has baby and children’s items. I saw some cute raincoat and hats that I wish I had bought. At Aldi’s, you have to buy things when you see them, as they keep changing their hard good “finds.” I just bought a splash pad on clearance for only $4.50. It’s November and chilly here. I will put it away until next summer when the grandkids are old enough to play in it.
As for books, I keep my eyes open for them at the library book sale, local shops, and The Book Outlet. I look for classics, like “Make Way for Ducklings” and Dr. Seuss books. As I was becoming a grandparent, I’ve started a library for when the boys visit. Being a new grandparent is a lot of fun.
Naming the Baby
Sample Plaque for Hospital Newborn Photo
They shared some possible names for our first grandson with us. They ordered a plaque with the name and didn’t say what they chose. When the baby arrived, they added the date, height, and weight to the plaque and took a photo to share. That’s how they made it official. The name is a family name and the middle name of our son. It turns out it ranks 96 on one of the lists of most popular names. Who knew?
Well, that’s part of becoming a grandparent. You learn a lot about trends for children.
A name for grandson number two wasn’t chosen until a couple of days before he was born. My daughter-in-law downloaded a thousand boy’s names onto a spreadsheet and asked my son to keep narrowing down the list. He came up with two possibilities that they were happy with and chose one after the baby was born.
So, in each case, we really didn’t know the name until the baby was born.
Once our grandsons were born, I ordered “Mom est. 2021” and “Dad est. 2021” for them.
You can now order “Dad est. 2022 and “Mom est. 2022.
Sharing with Other Grandparents
So far, as the grandsons are so young, we are still randomly seeing them. As one lives in South Carolina, we see him more through FaceTime than in person. We visit when we can, as do his other grandparents who live in Massachusetts as we do.
Our other grandson lives close by but he is still very young so his age is in weeks, not months so we are still not in any kind of routine yet. His other grandparents live about 45 minutes away so it can be a toss up who may be visiting or babysitting.
Grandparent Names
Grammy, Gramma, Grammie, Grandma, Granny, Gran, Grams, Nana, Mimi, Gigi, Gaga, Nonna, Gran-Gran, Noni, Yaya, Mammy, Memaw, Nanny, Abuela
Grampa, Grampy, Pop, Pop-Pop, Papa, Grandy, Grandpa, Poppa, Grandpaw, Grampsy, Granddad, Papi, Paw-Paw, Pappy, Grandpop, Poppa…
Wow! I didn’t realize how many different variations there are for grandparents. And spellings.
I started making mugs with the various names on them and put them on Etsy. It was a lot of fun. I’ve starting making more for 2022.
Of course, there are also those that the grandkids come up with, if they can’t manage a name, and they stick.
I know of one grandmother known as “Reeba.” Her name is Rita, but her grandchild calls her “Reeba” and so “Reeba” it is. Then there’s a grandma “Marma” and a grandpa named Bernie is “Barn” because the first grandchild in the family dubbed them with those names.
Our “grandparent” names are still a bit up in the air. We are trying out simple “Grammy” and “Grampy” but as the grandsons begin talking, that may change. Just being grandparents is a joy.
Looking Ahead
We can’t wait to take them on outings, especially outdoor sites, and zoos and animal sanctuaries like Noah’s Ark. We also hope to take them to various fun events, like the Lubec Pirate Invasion, the quirky New Year’s Eve in Eastport, Maine, and museums, like the Norman Rockwell Museum.
We also will share with them our family history, including the New England roots of the Clevelands who populate the U.S. On my side of the family, we will share researching the Regan and Dahlquist family histories in and around Boston, Mass.
Are you a grandparent? How did you choose a name to be called by your grandchild(ren)?
What seems the most different about welcoming a new baby into the family today?
What would you like to share about becoming a grandparent?
Check out our Etsy shop for more mugs for grandparents: GrandmothersTrunkUS.
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