15 years ago today, I became a Grandma (or should that be Grandmuv!) when my eldest granddaughter was born. It all felt a bit strange, I was 45 and wasn’t quite sure how to be a grandmother or even if I was old enough! I was very happy of course, but becoming a grandparent kinda reminds you that you’re getting older! What did I want to be called? Definitely not Nanny as that’s what my grandmothers were to me, so that instantly made me feel old! Grandparents, even if only in their 50s or 60s seemed much older back then. I decided on Grandma in the end, which to some, seems more aging than Nanny but I like it, and for a while, when Granddaughter Number one was learning to talk, I answered to Manma!

As a child, I only saw my grandparents two or three times a year as they didn’t live close to us and I barely knew them, so this made me determined to have a closer relationship with my own grandchildren.

Granddaughter Number one was joined about five years later (she had a good run at being the only grandchild) by Granddaughter Number two, and three years after that by Granddaughter Number three. A couple of years later, Grandson Number one was born, soon followed by Grandson Number two and finally Granddaughter Number four who will be celebrating her second birthday this year.

So, now I’m Grandma to six, how do I feel about being a grandma now? It’s fun, exhausting at times, but fun. Mr Fixit & I are very hands on grandparents, the last 15 years have been full of sleepovers, holidays and days out with them, as well as playing games, chatting & listening to them, acting the fool (there’s absolutely nothing wrong with crawling on all fours pretending to be a dinosaur).

We’ve had the privilege of going to watch them in school plays, concerts, cheering them on at sports events and being part of their upbringing. Who cares if they’re noisy, leave toys strewn on the floor & eat us out of house & home, we wouldn’t change it for anything!