Words of Wisdom, Gentle Advice, & Hilarious Observations: Grandmothers Are Like Snowflakes…No Two Are Alike

It is as grandmothers that our mothers come into the fullness of their grace. When a man’s mother holds his child in her gladden arms he is aware of the roundness of life’s cycle; of the mystic harmony of life’s ways. Christopher Money     The birth of a child in the family can be the greatest leveler of differences, bringing everyone together. Grandma Jan   Grandma’s home is her grandchildren’s second home, a sort of security blanket they can escape to when the world is unfriendly. Grandma Jan   Parent-child relationships are complex. Grandmother-grandchild relationships are simple. Grandmas are short on criticism and long on love. Grandma Jan   What’s so simple even a small child can manipulate it? Why, a grandmother, of course! Anonymous   If you would civilize a man, begin with his grandmother. Victor Hugo   The Queen Mother, with a lifetime’s popularity, seemed incapable of a bad performance as a national grandmother—warm, smiling, human, understanding, she embodied everything the public could want of its grandmother. John Pearson     Since the beginning of time grandmothers have been negotiators and peacemakers in their families. Grandma Jan   The closest friends I have made all through life have been people who also grew up close to a loved and loving grandmother or grandfather. Margaret Mead     Children have more need of models than critics. Joseph Joubert     Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. James Baldwin     All children wear the sign: I want to be important NOW! Many of our juvenile delinquency problems arise because nobody reads the sign. Dan Pursuit   If a child lives with approval, he learns to live with himself. A Dorothy Law Nolte   In order not to influence a child, one must be careful not to be that child’s parent or grandparent. Don Marquis     If children grew up according to early indications, we should have nothing but geniuses. Goethe   Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6   Grandchildren restore our zest for life, and our faith in humanity. Grandma Jan   OId-fashioned grandmothers take their grandchildren by the hand and lead them into the future. They are safe and kind, and wiser than the child’s mother. Florence King     Our grandchildren accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire lives has ever done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends—and hardly ever our own grown children. Ruth Goode   The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years, but the one with the richest experiences. Jean-Jacques Rousseau     God gave us loving grandchildren as a reward for all our random acts of kindness. Grandma Jan   There are one hundred and fifty-two distinctly different ways of holding a baby, and they are all right. Heywood Broun