written by Collinus Newsome Hutt
My mother? A Granny Nanny?
Lord, every time I see my mother interact with my children, I laugh. It’s funny to me. Really funny.
This 69-year-old recently divorced mother of six children is my granny nanny. And she is good at it too!
I remember when I told her I was pregnant with grand girl number one. She was so happy for me. She stood by me through some of the worst nine-month, all-day sickness ever and answered all of my silly pregnancy questions (even though her last pregnancy turned up not one baby but two, 30 something years ago). After walking with me through one of the most traumatic births in the history of giving birth, my mother took one look at grand girl number one and was hooked.
Once Gracie was born, I knew my mother wasn’t going to just let “anybody” watch her grandbaby while I worked. She teased and tormented me for a while, “and don’t come asking me to baby sit.” She is currently the granny nanny to grand girl number three and complains every day about how tired she is of watching my kids and that; “I better not have any more because I am getting to old for this shit.” I don’t even listen. My kids adore their granny nanny. They do. Heck, I love her so much that I named grand girl number three after her.
What I love about my granny nanny, aka my mom, is that she is kind, compassionate and is an extension of me. She is. She doesn’t think twice about what to do, and I love that about her too. She gives grand-girls the time and attention she deserves and is great at affirming them and chiding them when she needs to as well.
When granny nanny says, “rub a little bit of castor oil on her feet and it will draw that cold outta her” I don’t say anything. I go find a store that still sells castor oil and rub it on which ever grand girl is sick and make an appointment with a doctor, just in case. When granny nanny sends me home with not the third batch of collard greens but the fifth batch, I don’t complain. She says, “them girls sho’ do love my collard greens.” And they do, fat back and all. That goes for anything granny nanny cooks…”Granny is a waaaayyy better cook than you are mom.”
So, here’s to all the granny nanny’s in the world. Because of my mother’s self-less example, when my girls start having babies, I won’t think twice about being a granny nanny. Best job in the world.
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