Not Your Average Nana

One of the nanas pictured in the header on my blog is my first cousin, Martha. Martha is not your average nana (if such a creature exists). Come to think of it, she wasn’t your average mother either. She has three grandchildren, two boys and one little girl. Two of them live close to her but the other one is several states a way. Now that daughter number three is getting married I’m guessing more grandchildren are on the horizon and I’m betting on Martha to have the energy to keep up with all of them, no matter how many there are or where they live. Why do I say that? I’ve already told you, she’s “not your average nana.”

Martha was an elementary school teacher for ??? years. Just listening to the activities she did in her classroom could make perky little Kelly Rippa tired (sorry Rippa fans, I like her but she is perky). Martha was into hands on stuff in her classroom before the educational gurus told teachers that kids learn better by actually doing something than by just being told HOW to do something.

Occasionally Martha’s enthusiasm and zeal for learning have taken her into uncharted (and very nasty) waters. She once took her class on a field trip to the water treatment plant, not realizing they would tour the facility where raw sewage was being removed from the water. Okay everybody, all at one time…..EWWWWW GROSS!!!!!!

To further illustrate what I mean for a moment imagine that Martha and I are taking our grandchildren together to the playground. It’s a hot summer day and there are no trees near the swing set, slides or jungle gym. Within five minutes I’ve found a tree to sit beneath while I sweat like a hog (can hogs sweat?) My hair is limp, my body limper (before you call the grammar police I know that’s not a word). Martha, on the other hand, is not sweating. All her makeup is still where it’s supposed to be on her face and she’s alternately pushing all three of her grandchildren in swings at the same time. She looks like Mary Poppins on steroids and I am insanely jealous. Of course I’m not insanely jealous enough to leave the shade of my tree, but I’m jealous.

Super Nana is alive and well. Her name is Martha.