I Had A Super Grande! (Grandmother that is, Not A Latte)

Sacha and Malia have one – their Granny Nanny lives in the White House with them. You might have had a Granny Nanny too – did you spend a lot of time with your grandparents?  Did you stay at their house on weekends? Did they stay at your house when your parents went on vacation? Did they pick you up after school sometimes? Take you to school on occasion?  Yes, to any of the above and according to Leslie Stahl at CBS News, you and your family were on trend before being on trend was even a thing!

Because of the increasing cost of living and the high costs of childcare, CBS News reports that Granny Nannies are a necessity nowadays.  Things that make you go hmmm … Many of you know that my grandmother, Mrs. Effie Hayes, is my company’s namesake, right?

What you may not know, is that my sister and I were fortunate enough to grow up about 30 minutes away from where my grandparents lived.  When we were little, we spent just about every weekend with them from Friday through Sunday evening. It was AWESOME – they doted on us, bought whatever snack foods we requested, cooked our favorite meals, let us stay up late – yup, we were completely oblivious to the fact that these weekend jaunts were providing moments of sanity for our parents (especially my mom!).  As we got older and became tweens/teens, the weekends together ceased, but we still saw our grandparents at least once a week – we spent Sunday afternoons after church at their house with extended family popping in and out.

Nevertheless, we saw them all of the time; they came to see us off before prom and attended countless skating competitions, ice shows, ballet recitals, track meets, soccer games, birthday parties, graduations, etc.  I now realize how lucky we were – I don’t ever remember a significant moment in my life that did not include my grandparents. Sometimes my grandmother drove me crazy (she fussed non-stop about one thing or another), but I really loved spending time with my her … talking, watching television, learning to quilt, learning to cook … there really is something special and different about the bond between grandparents and grandchildren that does not exist between parents and children.  Don’t get my wrong, my parents were enormously influential in my life, but my gran – well, as much as I would’ve hated to admit to her when I was younger, she was running neck-and-neck with mom and dad.

So, who is Effie? Effie was my maternal grandmother who believed a lady should have the perfect shade of red lipstick, write a wicked thank you note and always carry a hanky in her pocketbook. (And yes, I’ve followed this advice all my life and it’s served me well!). So, it only seemed fitting to name my stationery company after my gran. I know she’s up in heaven just tickled pink that her legacy lives on. And thankfully, my grandad who’s 93, is still with us.  Now that the roles are reversed, I try to be there for the significant events in his life.

So, this Granny Nanny thing maybe a new thing to Leslie Stahl who’s a new grandmother herself, but Kendell and I had one long before we knew having a Granny Nanny was hip.  So my #womancrushwednesday is my grandmother, Mrs. Effie Hayes; she was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, friend, church member and all around fuss-pot! Click here to learn a little bit more about effie’s paper and the lady we’re named after.