If there is one thing that “Real Housewives of Atlanta” reality star NeNe Leakes has taught us, it’s how to embrace having grandchildren.
The 44-year-old celebrity introduced fans to her first granddaughter, Bri’asia Bryant, back in August 2012, and months later Leakes is still a proud “glam-mother,” a sassy, fashion-forward grandmother.
The Daughter She Never Had
“My Glam-baby is so sweet and precious… She’s like the daughter I never had,” Leakes posted on her BravoTV blog. “God does things for a reason, and this baby has brought so much joy to our lives.”
Leakes joins the crowd of over 35 percent of grandparentswho welcome their first grandchild in their forties and these younger-than-ever grandparents show no sign of giving up their youth.
“Seeing yourself as a GlamMa helps you make that leap into grand-parenting, through that psychic distance between ‘I’m too young’ and ‘Wow, I love this grandchild,’ ” Lin Wellford,author of The New Grandparents Name Book, told The New York Times.
Glam-Mothers Galore
For many women, this Mother’s Day will be the first time that they are celebrated as both a mother and a grandmother. The latter experience is likely to be even more special when it’s rebranded as a glam-mother celebration.
“New Millennium grandmothers are not sitting home waiting for grandchildren to visit,” saysNellie Meyers on her website Glam-mother.com, an online community and boutique for glam-mothers. “They are glamorous, stylish, chic, and yes, sexy.”
Loretta Oliver, 44, is a proud grandmother from Tyler, Texas. Her daughter, Mariah Florence, 20, welcomed a baby girl, Amari, last September. Oliver, inspired by Leakes, has been calling herself a GlamMa ever since.
“I just thought I was too young to be called a grandmother,” Oliver said. “[Glam-Ma] is just a glamorous term.”
Oliver hopes that the name will catch on with her five “g-babies” in the future. She already has two other granddaughters and two grandsons to convince to embrace the GlamMa name and persona.
An Important Role to Play
“Basically [you] help lead and guide your grandchildren, my g-babies, and encourage them along the way,” Oliver said. “A GlamMa is a woman of distinction, full of love and fun.”
Oliver plans on having a lot of fun on Mother’s Day, her first as a GlamMa, by celebrating at a spa, a scene frequently visited by the housewife crew (Season 4, NeNe vs. Sheree fight at the spa, anyone?).
Glam-Mas love to be pampered.
“I think I need to get a manicure, a pedicure, just a all around spa day,” Oliver said. “Something fabulous.”
But behind all the glitz and glamour of being a GlamMa, there is a serious role of offering additional parenting, guidance and support. There’s no denying a grandmother’s love can go a mighty long way.
“She just looks up at you with that big smile and… you just melt,” Oliver said of glambaby Amari. “We just love her.”
Save the knitting needles and rocking chairs for the nursing home. Celebrate the GlamMa in your life with a day at the spa, shopping excursion, or upscale dinner downtown.
This GlamMother’s Day is going to be fabulous.
