Grandparent naming rights...

_noob_
_noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
in Chit-Chat
Isn't this always how the oldest grandchild bastardizes the pronounciation of grandma and grandpa? Is this ever decided another way?

Replies

  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    That's how it happened here. My son (the first grandchild) made Grandma sound much like Oma. Being German, we just embraced it and now have Oma & Opa.
  • Junken_Diraffe
    Junken_Diraffe Posts: 716 Member
    In my family, my kids call them one thing, my brothers' kids call them something different.
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  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    Hahaha!! My brother thinks our parents are going to be called Oma and Opa... yeah, sucks to be them, they don't have the first kid... Though I'm not opposed to it as we embrace our Germanic roots too... but yeah, my DD is calling them mawmaw and pawpaw right now (along with her other grandparents).
  • CheekyBrahette
    CheekyBrahette Posts: 441 Member
    My daughter is the first born on her father's side of the family. She has mild developmental delays and couldn't really talk. She named his mother Nana. She has a younger cousin on that side of the family, but she calls her Grandma.
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    yes...kind of.

    My mom was wanting to be called "Nana," but the oldest grandchild called her "Nina," so she has been "Nina" too all subsequent grandchildren.

    My mom's mother was nicknamed "Timer" and we called her that. She had that nickname well before grandchildren. One of my cousins started calling her "honey" because he was repeating what my grandfather called her. So there are some who called her "Honey."
  • Vince_1964
    Vince_1964 Posts: 359 Member
    Guess I'll find out soon ... my oldest daughter is due with our first grand-child (son) in about 3 days ... will let you know in about a year!
  • MizTerry
    MizTerry Posts: 3,763 Member
    My kids call my mom Meema and my mother in law Oma.

    When it comes to my grands, as long as they never call me "Gaga." Geez.
    I knew some kids that called their grandmother that well into their adult lives.
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I have a story which amuses me regarding "grandma" as a title.....

    My husband is 20 yrs older than I am......and so is his ex-wife, who birthed all 5 of the kids. I'm the stepmom, and have been for 15 years.

    When the eldest daughter blessed us all with a grandchild, I was about 28 yrs old, while hubby (and his ex) were 49.

    I, personally, was so thrilled to have a fresh new baby to fawn over, I immediately got waaay excited to be called "grandma", not caring AT ALL that I wasn't even 30 at the time.

    His ex, however, (at not-yet-50 years old), was NOT happy to be called "grandma", and when the little one started talking, she introduced herself to the baby as "mimi".

    Fast forward 8 years. The granddaughter still refers to the ex as "mimi" and me as "grandma".

    We're out at a restaurant, all of us. "Mimi" has invited herself along to lunch (I know, eyeroll), and a waitress overhears my munchkin saying, "grandma" out loud. She glances at the table, makes a huge assumption, and indicating the ex, myself, and the kiddo, says, "all three generations out to lunch, how sweet!" (She mistakenly thought "mimi" was the grandma, I was the mom, and munchkin was the third gen.)

    Mimi gets PISSED. SUPER PISSED.


    It was such sweet awesome goodness.

    Anyway, I LOVE being called grandma.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    For my kids, the grandmothers elected their own names (grandpas aren't really around). Now for my sister, she selected a name and my oldest couldn't say it correctly so she called her something else. Now my whole family and even some of her co-workers call her by that nickname.
  • laurenmanderson1
    laurenmanderson1 Posts: 113 Member
    In my family it was all the children that added their own change to the name. it started as the understood grandma and grandpa, my sister started calling them nana and papa, and then comes me (the baby) who started saying nanny and poppy. They are still nanny and poppy today to everyone in the family :smile:
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    My kids just say "grandma". Plain and simple. So did we to both the grandma's only differentiated by adding their first names.
  • kerricolby
    kerricolby Posts: 232 Member
    My daughter named my mom Black Mimi and my husband's mom Brown Mimi to tell them apart.
  • TeachTheGirl
    TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
    My husband's mother was adamant that my son was pronouncing her name as 'quack quack' and went with it ever since, but I've NEVER heard him say anything. Now he's old enough to talk properly, it's just 'Gramma'.

    Nanny and Pops for my parents, as we're British and my parents chose to name themselves what my sisters kids were calling them. We're fine with that.
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
    Nope. My big sister and I are at least 6 years older than are cousins. We called my paternal grandparents Grandma and Grandpa Fluffy after their dog. Cousins never knew the dog. They call them Meemaw and Pah-paw.

    Heathens.
  • salladeve
    salladeve Posts: 1,053 Member
    When my first grandchild was born we named ourselves! Our first grandchild already had 3 great grandmas and I was only 43 so I started referring to myself as Nana and my dh as Papa, so that is what they all called us. They still call us that and the oldest 2 now have boyfriends that also call us Nana and Papa :) I like it that way.
  • _Tink_
    _Tink_ Posts: 3,845 Member
    In my family, my kids call them one thing, my brothers' kids call them something different.

    Same here. My daughter was the first grandchild and the only one for 5 years and she called them Grammy and Grampy. When my sister's son was 4 or 5 he heard someone refer to a grandmother as Nana and decided to call her that instead. My daughter had been saying Grammy for 10 years so we stuck with that. Now the other 4 grandkids call her Nana and my two still call her Grammy.

    Oh, and the same sister's son decided my father should be called Big Guy, and then later changed it to Good Guy. So that's what the other 4 grandkids call him now.
  • tazhinshaw
    tazhinshaw Posts: 297 Member
    My son picked out their 'names'. Ganny and PawPaw for my mom and step-dad and he came up with Umpaw for my dad o.o have no clue how he even came up with that one
  • Cadori
    Cadori Posts: 4,810 Member
    All grandmas and grandpas are grandma and grandpa (in-laws already have grandsons calling them that and my mom was against nana or granny). My son as eldest great-grandchild got to name my grandma GG and my grandpa great-papa though. :)
  • kali31337
    kali31337 Posts: 1,048 Member
    I'm not sure. I'm the oldest grandchild on both sides of the family and called my maternal grandmother 'Bum' (I couldn't pronounce grandma at the time I suppose and called my paternal grandmother 'grandma'. I did see my maternal grandmother more often and she loved me calling her 'Bum' There were also shirts that had that acronym at the time so we always bought them for her. My brothers and cousins always called her grandma
  • plynn54
    plynn54 Posts: 912 Member
    my cousins kids call their grandmother amma moo. The grandma with the cows! lol they still do and the oldest is 16
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Mine were called Papa and E.E.
  • RJay64
    RJay64 Posts: 135
    My kids just say "grandma". Plain and simple. So did we to both the grandma's only differentiated by adding their first names.

    We did too, as kids - except we added the last name. Our children did the same with our parents. My two sisters have grandchildren and they call them Grandma and Grandpa.

    My ex's mother announced when I was pregnant that she was to be called Noni, so Noni she is.

    My daughter asked me what I want to be called when the time comes. My answer: Grandma.
  • KatWood
    KatWood Posts: 1,135 Member
    My 2 year old niece calls my mom "Grandma Cookie" because she gets a cookie every time she visits her :)
    I am expecting my first child in October. It will be interesting to see how he refers to his grandparents. This thought has actually crossed my mind a few times. I always just called my grandparents grandma and grandpa, the 2 sides of the family differentiated by last name (e.g. Grandpa Wood, Grandpa Lepsin).
  • strangewebby
    strangewebby Posts: 72
    In our family the grandparents picked what they wanted to be called and all the grand kids have so far stuck to it. My dad picked PawPaw because that's what his dad was called. My mom picked Nana because it goes with PawPaw and couldn't choose MawMaw since my dad's mom uses that and she is still alive. My name is Elizabeth and I chose to go by Aunt B (because I was young and thought I was clever) for all my nephews and now everyone in the family calls me B.
  • atb0821
    atb0821 Posts: 458 Member
    My DD was supposed to call my dad Grumpa. That was his choice. But she went with Bubba instead. And my dad is the least Bubba-like person alive, so it's actually hilarious.

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