My boys’ Nana passed away 5 years ago and I never want them to forget her.
Max was 4 and Eli was 6 months old, so the memories they have of her are primarily from pictures or stories I share. My older boys, 26 and 22, have memory after memory of their Nana, as she babysat them as they were growing up and was there for every milestone, birthday, and graduation.
The little boys still need to learn about her.
I talk about her all the time and repeatedly have to remind them that she was their Nana but my Mom. We talk about what she looked like and what she sounded like.
I tell the boys things she would say or things she would or would not let me do when I was a child. I repeat her favorite phrases, and they now know those are things Nana would say.
We will have a meal and I will share with them that Nana taught me how to make this, and they know that means it is extra special to me. We have birthdays at her favorite pizza place and then go to her favorite donut shop and get creme horns because who doesn’t like pizza and donuts for their birthday?
One evening after making a cake for a friend who had just had a baby, I had a little icing left over, so I asked the boys if they wanted a special treat that Nana used to make me.
I was reminded how my mom would take leftover icing and put it on graham crackers and make the most delicious little sandwiches. So I made the boys a little treat that took me back to my childhood.
Nana-Grahams were born that day.
One of the little boys said Nana used to make them so they are Nana-Grahams!
On the daily, my boys will ask me to pack them Nana-Grahams for their snack or include one in their lunch. A bedtime snack request is often the special Nana treat and I’m not mad about it at all. I actually have icing in the pantry (not extra) waiting for when they ask for them.
I’m sad they won’t get to hear her laugh or say “Does a bear have hair?” I’m sad she won’t be there for all of their milestones, but I’ve got so much I want to share with them about my sweet mom, perhaps while we snack on Nana-Grahams.
