We present a new analysis of the relative rate of growth or shrinkage of grains in a two-dimensional network, based on the classical Von Neumann-Mullins (VN-M) analysis. We find that an analysis of the stability of the grain shape during shrinkage or growth shows that any change in the regular 2D grain leads to changes in the shape. We also re-examine a recent analysis that claims to have invalidated the VN-M relationship, but find that it is still valid, and that the cited analysis, in fact, confused a second order correction with a first order problem, partly because their derivation was in error. The erroneous magnitude of the discrepancy led them to use unphysical issues to explain the discrepancy. The way in which the curvature is distributed along the perimeter of a grain only gives rise only to second order corrections to the rate of change of area as a function of grain topology (number of sides).