Today I found out I am Native American

September 9^th 2016 will go down in history for not only the Sioux tribe, but for all Native Americans. This is the day that our voices, Native or not, were finally heard for the Earth. This was the day that the government finally came to our aid, to see things from our perspective. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been labeled a ‘white girl’. Not that I mind. It did hurt my feelings when we were referred to having ‘white privilege’. The shunning from different cultures weighed heavy. I always had a sense of envy when different cultures shared their roots. The way they prepared and presented food, the different styles of their hair and clothes, and they had their own language. I knew that I was Native but there were some relatives and ancestors that were European. But I couldn’t get it through my mind that part of me is European (although there is nothing wrong with that.) I just knew that I didn’t belong. That it was not in my heart to accept it. Then again maybe I just thought there was more to my story. Most people ‘connect’ to their past. Funny thing about it was I never could. Now I feel connected more than ever.

Sure, my mother always told me I was Native from her side of the family. Believe me, I look just like her. And she could walk onto a reservation and no one would stop her. She looked like she belonged there. Then there was my father who also had quite a bit of Native blood running in his veins. He told me an indian princess was one of my ancestors. I was so excited to think that we have that honor in having pure blood. But then he would say, “You’re the whitest American indian anyone has ever met!” That confused me for years. I couldn’t understand that if we weren’t directly related to her, how could we have her blood running through our veins? Then I learned the reason after he had passed. It was her husband we were related to all along. I’ve always been told how Native I look. How I can keep a tan throughout the winter. Too bad my daughter could never hold a tan at all. She has beautiful blue eyes with blonde hair when she was young. Most people look at her, then look at me, then look back at her and can’t understand how a brown-eyed, dark-haired person could give birth to a blonde, blue-eyed baby. Unfortunately my granddaughter is the opposite of me as well.

I guess there are pros and cons to connecting to a certain group of people. A con being that I am in a minority. Or maybe that is a pro. I’m not for certain. But I do know this: I know I am predominantly Native American and I am SO PROUD of being a part of a culture that is finally opening up and being heard. So what if the government finally came to our aid and stopped the construction of the pipeline through sacred grounds and under the Missouri river. I am very proud of the tribes (yes! More than one tribe!!!) consistency and WITHOUT violence! We knew this could happen! With all the shootings happening in recent years and months, we did this without hostility. This should tell you that peace can reign. Good combats evil. You can get what you want and need without fighting. THIS is what the Native Americans are all about. What if this is the first day of the Environmental Revolution? That we clean up our acts with Mother Earth? We have a long road to go but if we, as the human race, are united, today has proven that we can win this fight for our children, grandchildren and their children.

I’m so very proud of all Natives today.

The things we saw at the mall…

It was a very, very muggy day when we dropped Victoria’s mother off to work. The pavement was blistering hot and there was not a cloud in sight. I didn’t feel like going home and I wanted Victoria to play, but I wanted it in a cool atmosphere. So I decided to take her to the mall. I know being there will make her tired after and she will sleep better tonight. Plus she always sees some things that are new to her every time we go. have a special recipe in mind that I want to make the girls for tomorrow night. So I had to get the item at the local grocery store. Then I thought, ‘While I’m there, I can get a 6” sub and two bottles of water..that would be fun to eat in the Food Court just her and her hip grandmother.

We drove up to the mall and parked in our favorite parking spot. Well…it’s my favorite because it’s close to the kid park and I don’t have to walk too far. I decided that this time I was going to get her stroller from the trunk. It’s easier so I don’t have to carry everything or if she gets tired there is a place for her to rest. She was so excited to get out! I think this is the first time I had seen her put her shoes on by herself in anticipation to get out to see other kids. The stroller was packed to the brim (with her in it) and we marched into the mall.

As we were walking down the way, Victoria looked up and pointed to the floor, indicating to me she wants to
get out and walk. She loves to lead the way into different stores and look at the different displays. They are always changing every time we go there. Besides the clerks like to see her and watch her cautiously as she walks around with her hands behind her back. A couple of months ago, one clerk gave her one of her favorite animals. There were ducks on display during easter and because she ABSOLUTELY loves ducks. She ran up to the display with such delight and the lady behind the desk asked her if she wanted a life-sized cardboard duck. She welcomed it with open arms and wouldn’t let go (even through lunch). She even slept with it that night. Victoria can be a weird child.

Soon we came to the end of the mall and Victoria decides to run ahead of me (which makes me so nervous that she is starting to run.) She found a display of assorted bubblegum machines. Unfortunately I had to explain to her that she is way too young for bubblegum so a tantrum ensued. That lasted for about 2 minutes until she looked up, stood back up, picked up her blanket (that she carries like Linus from the Peanuts gang) and looked at the bubblegum machines again. Part II of the tantrum began. An elderly couple came by and told her to be a good girl or she isn’t going to get any bubblegum out of the machines. I told them, yes, because she is only two years old. And no, her grandmother isn’t going to let her have any bubblegum. They both just smiled and continued walking.

Thunder crashed and we felt the vibrations beneath our feet. Not a second after that, we heard rain falling hard on the roof. The lights began to flicker on and off throughout the mall. Suddenly the movie ‘Dawn of the Dead’ came to my mind. Thats ok. I absolutely love walking with her through the mall anyway. She waves to as many people as she sees. In the mall, there are many things to do. Theres an area that lets you jump on trampolines so high (almost to the ceiling of the mall itself) with harnesses attached to the sides of your body. Now…I’m ok with letting Victoria grow up a little before she sets her sights on riding this ride but she wants to do it NOW. A couple of months ago she did try to go on the Mall Jump but was afraid once she got on the trampoline. Now I think she has toughened up a bit and wants to ‘give it a go’ again. Oy vey!

Finally we walked to the inside park where many children and parents gather to watch their babies play. VICTORIA LOVES THIS PART! I did, however, notice that Victoria is still into the ‘parallel playing’, which means she likes to be around other kids but play by herself. She is still too young for total social contact but that’s ok. The more she is around other children the more she will be able to conduct herself in the appropriate manner with a large group of kids. There were older girls that thought she was the cutest thing and played with her copying and following her around the playground. Victoria would scream as if she was so excited when she would see other children chasing each other around the slide and along the benches where the parents sat. We must have stayed in that area for about 2-3 hours. When we were ready to go home, she was happy. Tired but happy. I was happy to be with her too.

Creating a technological bond between great-grandmother and grandchild

On one of my other postings, I have talked about how I am so thankful and blessed for being a part of the generation that I am in. We are after the Baby Boomers and before Generation Y. I heard that they are called ‘Generation Y’ for a reason. “Y move out of my parents house? Y pay my own bills?” But I joke….kind of.

My mother is a part of the baby-boomer generation. She is also very close to Victoria. But she is really close to my daughter. So close that my daughter named my grandchild after her. What an honor that must be! We want to make sure that she is a part of this baby’s life as we are. Unfortunately she lives about 25 miles away so she cannot see her precious great-granddaughter as much as she would like. But we have found a way that we can connect on a daily basis: Facetime.

Having the special incentive to use this technology means she can be there to view the milestones at the tips of her fingers at any time. This is a great way to keep in touch with what is going on in the family, not only with Victoria but us too. There is a survey that shows 20% of the grandparents that were interviewed use such technology to ‘touch base’ with their grandchildren at least once or twice a week.

Grandparents of a generation or two ago would probably not accept anything other than the telephone for communication with their children and/or grandchildren (if the internet were available back then). But the grandparents of this day and age frequent social networks anyway; so using programs such as Skype, Facetime or Google Hangouts on any device they own in the form of a laptop, desktop, tablet or cell phone is easier to keep in touch with their babies’ babies.

That brings me to my own mother. She wants to make sure she stays in my daughter’s life as much as possible (as she should). When my daughter was in high school, they would spend hours (literally hours) on the phone like teenagers chatting away to each other. They are so close, they share the same likeness of music thus going to concerts of that genre together. They are that close. So you can see how much my daughter wants to share special moments of Victoria with my mother. It is almost a daily occurrence that there is communication on Facetime. Be it lunchtime or bath time, my mother gets to see my grand daughter and my daughter, Victoria gets to actually see and get to know her great grandmother and I get to see my mother daily. As her adult-child, it brings me comfort knowing that my mother is okay.

12 things I want to show you about my 8 month old grand daughter Victoria Renee

Ok…I didn’t write the 7 things I have learned about my grand daughter Victoria Renee. BUT she has made some improvements during the 7 month and I would love to show you the pictures instead. Today is Victoria’s 8^th month of life. I want to show you now that she is starting to leave the infant world and go straight to becoming a little kid. Its hard to believe that my grand daughter isn’t a baby in a bassinet anymore. She is really growing up and I have become closer and closer to the little booger.

We have gone from this:

To this:

Now we are to this:

Somewhere in between 22-25 lbs, she is starting to lunge forward to position herself to crawl. One of these days she will do it and hopefully it will be in my presence. Her mother holds her up in a standing position as she holds on to the coffee table in the living room. She is definitely on her way.

From eating this way:

Kiss the hand of the Queen!

Eventually eating in a high chair:

And finally she is an ol’ pro!

As you know, I am her babysitter while her mother works. There have been times when things are kind of hard keeping her on a schedule but all in all, she is a very easy baby to deal with. I set a schedule for her sleeping and she has grown into it wonderfully.

We have gone from this:

To this:

And at times…..I find her playing in her crib when she is supposed to be in dreamland

She does a lot of things on her own, though.

And she even tries to push herself by doing different things, such as holding the bottle in one hand then switching to the other hand……

She really thinks she is cool. Thats ok because I think she’s an awesome kid. Not a baby but a kid.

My very first Grandparent’s Day (and I almost missed it)

I am shaking my head to the fact that I almost missed my first Grandparents day. I mean, I really didn’t miss it, but it was a day just like any other day. Unfortunately it was too hot to take Victoria outside to sit and play on a blanket. Now that she sits up on her own, there are so many more things we can do together. Like I said before, it was my very first grandparents day and I almost missed it but my daughter didn’t.

As Victoria was sitting in her Pack N Play, I took the time to google what and when Grandparents day was really about. Yes it was earlier this month. It turns out that it is a new holiday that became recognized only 36 years ago in 1978. Marian McQuade of West Virginia was the original founder of Grandparents Day. Although there are many countries that recognize this event, it is usually celebrated on different days throughout the year. For instance, in France it is celebrated on the first sunday of March dating back to 1987. And out of all those different countries celebrating this day, some celebrate the grandmother and another day will be celebrated for the grandfather. This proves that grandparents are a very important part of their families lives…no matter what country you are from.

I’ve also learned that there is a song that was written in our honor. I heard some of it. Its cute. It was written in 2004 in Chula Vista, California by Johnny Prill mandated by the National Grandparents Day Council. (I never knew anything like this existed!) He was presented with the National Songwriters award because of its highly popular composition. He named it “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa”. It was written to give children across the nation the opportunity to celebrate and show their appreciation for their grandparents. It tells of the unique relationship between children and their grandparents. I’m guessing I take this ‘grandparent’ thing very seriously! And I love it!!!

 

The Liebster Award!!!!

The Hip Grandmother just received the Liebster Award from http://www.journeyaroundtheglobe.com! Thank you so much for being recognized as a blogger. It’s been a little over a year since I have started http://www.thehipgrandmother.wordpress.com and its been a wonderful journey! Thank you again! I am so happy to be nominated and I would like to nominate some wonderful blogs for you, my faithful followers to read. But FIRST, there are some rules that you would need to follow.

They are:

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you.

2. Answer the 11 questions that are asked of you.

3. Nominate five other bloggers that have under 5,000 followers.

4. Ask those bloggers 11 unique questions.

5. Let the bloggers know they have been nominated so they can continue the chain!

 

 

 

I was asked these questions and here are my answers. I would like my nominees to answer these same questions.

What inspired you to blog?                                                  

When I found out my daughter became pregnant on July 1, 2013 I just knew I wanted to shout it out on a mountain to anyone that wanted to hear it. I didn’t know how I was going to accomplish that. I had written a few blogs before (namely www.reflectionsofashaddow.wordpress.com) and I have to say that a lot of people did, in fact, enjoy it. Shaddow, my cat is a funny character but I knew I needed something more. So after a month of pondering, I decided to start a new blog about my only daughter’s experiences of her first pregnancy through the eyes of her mother. I still feel I am too young to be a grandmother but I also realize that there is a new generation of grandparents emerging from the MTV generation and we need to have a voice. I want to knock on the proverbial door and announce that ‘WE ARE HERE, METALHEADS AND ALL!’ so to answer your question, my daughter inspired me like she has done in so many ways in her young life.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             When did you first start blogging?

 I first started blogging in 2011 when I started a blog named ‘TIL: Tyster Gallery’. I had no clue what I was going to write about. My daughter was graduating soon from high school and we were always so busy so I could never find the time to be an actual ‘blogger’. I had no ‘niche’ in what I was writing and being able to communicate with what I am trying to say to my followers.

What is your blog about?

My blog, ‘The Hip Grandmother’ is about the experience that my first and only granddaughter Victoria Renee has to go through               or what she is going through in her young life. I can only tell you that I am the grandmother and these are situations through                     my eyes.

 What are your two big passions in your life?

I have had a pretty good life so far. The two big passions in my life have been meteorology and astronomy. When I say                                 meteorology, I am not talking about the weather pattern of a certain climate. I am talking hurricanes. I have wanted to become                 an Atmospheric Scientist since I was seven years old. I was the weird teenager that unlike most, had pictures of hurricane paths               and statistics with a map of Florida (my home state)hung up on my wall like teenager girls have their idols and crushes. When I               found out the true definition of meteorology, (and doesn’t every kid love our celestial neighborhood?) I decided to focus on                       learning more about our cosmic neighborhood and the different phenomena on each planet or moon. I also love art. I have been               an artist all my life winning awards at such a young age with many wonderful memories of the people I have met through art.

How do you promote your blog?

I promote my blog in a few ways. Yes I should do more promoting but frankly, I don’t really know how. I do have another blog                   that has the same information (www.thehipgrandmother.blogspot.com) which has a different template. I like to Facebook a lot                 and get to know the many followers I have at www.facebook.com/thehipgrandmother. I am also on google+ under                                     www.plus.google.com/thehipgrandmother. You can also find me at http://www.about.me/thehipgrandmother which you can find all               of my blog entries. I have been dabbling with ad-placement working with google but that has been a slow process I have to                         admit.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

Reflecting on my blog, I see myself as I am today: very happy with who I am with my family surrounding me. As I watch them                   grow into mature adults, I can breathe a sigh of relief knowing I did my best.

How often can you actually take time off and do things you like to do?

As a mother, I can take as much time as I want to do the things that I enjoy doing whether it is window-shopping with friends,                 going to a movie or simply chatting on the phone or computer. As a grandmother, I have to make sure I am available to babysit               while my daughter goes to work or is taking her college classes.

How would you encourage other people to blog?

I have to admit blogging is a sure way to relieve stress and write down what is really going on in my mind when it concerns my                 granddaughter. So to answer that question, you would have to first meet up with people that enjoy writing or love to                                     communicate to the masses. Blogging is like a free therapist that never charges and is always listening.

What is the one thing that you would love to do at least once in your lifetime?

The one thing that I would love to do at least once in my lifetime would probably have to be to get married. I have never been                   married and watching other marriages that are created then ending makes me even more afraid to commit. So when I plan on                   getting married one day I want to make sure it lasts.

How do you handle family or work stress?

I am not really sure how to answer that because I am a stay-at-home grandmother who lives with both her child and her child’s                 child. But I handle it all one day at a time…if that was the answer you were looking for.

Where would you rather be now?

As a young girl, I imagined myself working as an Atmospheric Scientist like I have stated before. But now that I have my                             daughter and granddaughter here with me, I think that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else because of them. (and my black cat              Shaddow!)

 I would like to nominate:

1. http://joannerambling.wordpress.com/

2 http://racheldejong28.wordpress.com/

3.http://triggershorse.wordpress.com/

4 .http://steelwrkrswife.wordpress.com/

5.http://shoe1000.wordpress.com/

Thank you again http://journeyaroundtheglobe.com/my-awards/liebster-award for the nomination. 

Don’t talk about my generation!

My mother can recall the time when she was the biggest Beatle fan anyone can imagine. Having made a scrapbook dedicating the Beatles, she must have enjoyed listening to the radio when a new song of theirs came on the transistor, the news that came on the television about their ‘invasion’ to America, the loves reported in their lives and sadly, the losses they had to endure. In my opinion, she was in the center of the greatest generation ever when it came to music. So many of us can agree with that statement.

Fast forward to 2008. Being of sound-mind and a Metalhead to this very day, the music that I actually listen to is absolutely ‘nothing’ like the Beatles. The deepness of Goth Metal and the speed of the crunchy guitar gets my blood to a boil every time. I say “Fast forward to 2008” because that was the earliest I can remember walking into my teenaged daughter’s room and noticing posters of the Fab Four plastered on her walls and ceiling. I asked her why she couldn’t stay in her own generation in being a fan, inevitably upsetting her with my gruffness. Why would she want to do something like that?? I mean, she even agrees that the music of today is nothing but grunts and clips of music from the past. Why wouldn’t she love the past generation of music? For those who know her, she is merely a Beatles ‘fan of today’. But I know her as the baby I had given birth to on Ringo Starr’s birthday.

I was surfing around on the internet and found a lovely little blog of someone else that has the same problem as I had when she was younger. You should really take a look.