heart to heart blog

Name: Donna Donnelly
You can read all of Donna’s posts here!

Position at Graco: Manager Sales Support – Walmart

How long at Graco: 3 1/2 years

My favorite kids: Nothing is better than real life – my favorite real life kids are my own Bunny, Sweetpea and Boo Bear and our recent arrival — grandbaby LoveBird, of course. Fictitious favorites include Rudy Huxtable, Michelle Tanner, Lisa Simpson.

Latest “wondrous” moment: Seeing my daughter become a mother and feeling all of the hope of the past and all of the joy of the future in one moment the first time I looked in my beautiful grandbaby’s eyes. I never thought I could be so excited! .

Your/your child’s most memorable first: In 26 years of parenting 3 daughters I’ve accumulated so many, but, one we still laugh about is Bunny’s 1st “Fluffer-nutter”. I thought she might like a surprise treat for lunch so I changed up the sandwich fare. When I picked her up from school and asked her how she liked her lunch, she said “Very funny Mom!! Peanut butter and mayonnaise??? I threw it out!” Poor kid had no lunch. (You guys know what a “fluffer-nutter” is right?)

You just have to know this about me: I just love to be outdoors. My ideal job would allow me to work at the beach, either writing, painting, drawing, or even braiding hair. Heck, I’ll sell sea shells – any one know of an opening?

If I had my 15 minutes of fame it would be because: It would probably be for something embarrassing, but if it happens, I hope it’s because I’ve made a valuable contribution of some sort to the world.

My favorite thing about being a parent: I’ve always commented to people that if I had enough money, I’d have 12 kids. I just love to be around them and revel in their wonder, innocence and pure delight in life. Every age/stage brings new discoveries and new challenges. I have loved watching my daughters learn and grow and become really great people. There is a lot of peace and satisfaction in being at the other end knowing that what you did as a parent either worked or they were resilient enough to overcome it anyway.

If someone said “Go to your Happy Place,” where would you go?: As I sit here right now it would absolutely be the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There is nothing like the way I can feel like time stands still while I’m there, but it usually takes more than a week to get to that place.

Favorite children’s book: Shel Silverstein’s “Where the Sidewalk Ends”. I also really like all the Dr. Suess books.