I am new to glam motherhood, my first grandbaby is just 6 months old. However, I love the concept. Nellie’s request for a testimonial has caused me to think deeply about how glam-motherhood will impact not only my life, but also my grandchildren’s.
I hope to hold onto the traditional grandmother attributes of wisdom, serenity, and unconditional love, while embracing glam-mother attributes (as I see them) of life-long learning, evolution, and style!
I will be present in my granddaughter’s life and expose her to our family history (she comes from a long line of glam mothers on both sides) as well as the world. I’ll introduce her to my passions (reading, theater, movies, travel, cooking, exercise, golf, and community involvement) while helping her find her own. I’ll include her in any new ventures or passions I explore as I continue my own evolution.
I’ve learned how important loving family relationships are and will make sure my granddaughter sees this first hand as she interacts with aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and (hopefully) her own sisters and brothers.
My relationships with my four sisters and my female friends has taught me how important it is for women to have strong bonds with each other. We strengthen and support each other through the ups and downs of life. I will make sure she sees these relationships and hope that she will develop her own network of “sisters” as she grows up.
I can’t end this without discussing personal style. I consider mine “glam on the go”. I like being comfortable and current. However, I don’t value style over substance and will help my granddaughter understand that strong values and personal integrity are more important than clothes and hairstyles. However, you can have both personal integrity and great personal style.
Lauren of St.Louis
I became a “Glam Mother” at 41. My grandmothers taught me to crochet, identify birds, play solitaire and eye spy, and how to make Potica. They wore “house dresses” that almost always were some color of blue and always a hat on Sunday. We never cooked without a flowered apron tied around our waists and no one worried about “trans-fats.” My grandmothers were serious and rarely cracked a smile. The last person you wanted to tell you had “messed up” was grandma…because you just didn’t want to let her down.
As a “Glam-Mother” in the 2000s, you need to know what’s “in” and what’s “out.” Grandma… Barbie’s are so yesterday! You have to have your own Facebook account, monitor YouTube usage, be able to adeptly play DS, PlayStation and WII games, and, equally well, help with 4th grade homework that you have to Google to remember what a “parallelogram” really is. My grandmothers were retired when I knew them. My granddaughter comes to work with me and helps out.
Some things don’t change though – whether you were a grandmother or are a “Glam-Mother” you are always a role model, someone who lives her value and is always standing with open arms ready to give a hug.
Top 10 Reasons My “Glam-Mother” is Cool by Kayla
- She’s Funny
- She’s Lovable
- She’s Active – we love to swim together
- Creative – when I need help she always has an idea
- Fun – always willing to play with me
- Cooks great food – like ribs
- Talks a lot – makes me comfortable
- Always Supportive
- Types fast
- She’s Smart
Lynn , Minneaoplis
Grandmother vs. Glam-Mother
I can remember how important my grandmother was to me when I was growing up because she made me (one of seven children) feel unique and special. I spent lots of weekends at her house and think that is where I developed my love for good home cooked food. I also learned how to properly set a table and understand that you don’t need a dinner party to sit down to a meal at a table with china and cloth napkins.
I have three grandchildren; Olivia age 14, Elijah age 6 and Gabriella age 22 months. I have three children and each gave me a grandchild in the same order as their birth, therefore, my oldest child had the first child and so on.
The biggest difference I can see between grandmothers when I was a child and now back then grandmothers were always old or looked and acted like they were old. As a Glam Mother I want to be apart of today, I have a cell phone, I can text, I also have FaceBook account, I try to be stylish and stay age appropriate when I dress but will put on a pair of leggings in a heartbeat.
I truly loved my grandmother but we rarely played or danced or just had fun. I think one of the rewards of being a Glam mother is that you can have fun with your grandchildren.
A special little thing I have with each of my grandchildren:
Olivia (age 14)
Olivia knows I love to dance and so does she. Olivia also likes clothes and likes being stylish. One of her favorite singers is Avril Levine and she has clothing line, I bought Olivia a few pieces for her last birthday. She told me that when she wore them to school, her friends asked where she had gotten them and she told them my grandmother gave them to me, she said they responded with,” Your grandmother is COOL, my grandmother would buy me a sweater twin set or something like that, so Olivia said Yes I think I have a cool grandmother to!
Elijah (age 6)
Since Elijah is my only grandson, I like to make him feel special by introducing him as my oldest grandson, my youngest grandson, Oh, Oh my only grandson..This really tickles him and hopefully makes him feel real special.
Gabrielle (age 22 months)
Gabrielle is still young but her mother and father tell me she carries my picture around the house and gives it lots of kisses, that surely encourages me to make a visit soon and get the kisses in person.
Sarah, Aberdeen,NJ
