Earlier this week, I was reading a post over at Bower Power and Katie was talking about their fabulous weekend in Chattanooga, her son's first roadtrip and how her husband's mother and grandmother were still trying to decide their names. It made me laugh because we went through something similar.
You see, when I was about 4 or 5 years old, I started calling my Grandma "Meme" all because my friend Jeff had a Mimi and I wanted one too. Now, she has been Meme for thirty or so years and everyone calls her that, friends, her own children, her great-grandchildren. It fits her perfectly.
We weren't super close with my dad's mother while growing up {about high school we seemed to get a lot closer} so we called her Grandma. In junior high though, Lyndsey and I got a bug up our butt that she needed a name too. So, she became GramCrackers. One, she is admittedly a little crackers in the head. Two, we thought it was so funny to say it. She still gets a kick out of it, especially when her mailman questioned her about mail addressed to GramCrackers.
So when we had Finnegan, we weren't really sure how to refer to these newly minted grandparents. Especially so with my parents who had me young and weren't typical grandparents.
Dave's side of the family is much more traditional and his parents said they would be Grandma & Grandpa. For awhile there Finn was calling Dave's mom Grandma SueSue, but I think she put the squash on that, now it's just Grandma.
Dave's grandma was a different story, Kelly is an absolute riot. She told us that she would like to think of a name for him to call her and came up with Oma which is a German term of endearment similar to 'granny' and we got the biggest kick out of this. So she is his Oma.
My mom has always been J-ma to Dylan & Bren {half Janet, half grandma} and to Ruby she was always Janet. So we started referring to her as J-ma. For some reason Finn would call her J.G. and then it was just Gigi. It was so funny too because Annabelle calls Nikki's mom G.G. too... it stands for Greedy Grandma because she always wanted to hold her. Ha! Finn & Annabelle think it's cool though that they both have a Gigi/GG. We still aren't sure how he started calling my step-dad Papa. Ruby calls Richard 'Grandpa Rico' and we don't know any other Papas so it must have been his own initiative.
My dad's name is the best I think. For a long time and I am still not quite sure why, Finn couldn't say Grandpa so he would call both Dave's dad & my dad Bakka. Once he was able to call Dave's dad Grandpa, it switched immediately, but he always still called my dad Bakka, which my dad liked. It wasn't until he was about a year and a half old that my Aunt Letti was here and asked us WHY Finn was calling him cow... and we figured out pretty quickly that vaca {pronounced bakka} was the spanish word for cow.
So there you have it. Meme. GramCrackers. Oma. Grandpa & Grandma. Papa & Gigi. Bakka. Our grandparently names. What do you or your children call their grandparents?
Love it! Bakka is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteOn my dad's side, I just have one grandfather. We always called him Grandpa Floyd. My sisters have added the tag line, "The Original Hipster" recently. Come to find out, he pretty much was Jack Kerouac.
Now, my hillbilly relatives. We called my grandparents Meemaw and Peepaw. My great grandparents were called Mamaw and Papaw. And my great-great grandmother was called Mom Fout. I can't explain that last one.
BB1 calls all of his grandparents (and there are MANY) Nana & Papa. We are actually saying Grandma & Grandpa - but that's the best he can pronounce them. It's going to be difficult for him to set all of his Grandparents straight as he gets a little bigger - all of our parents are divorced & remarried, and all my Grandparents are still living. He has a truckload of Grandparents!!
ReplyDeleteThe only one he calls anything differently is MY Grandma - he calls her yaya. My cousin had her kids call her that when they were born as a joke, but it stuck. And BB1 thinks yaya is REALLY fun to say, so when he sees her it just spills out of his mouth rapid-fire lol.
This posts is perfectly timed!
ReplyDeleteWhen I found out I was pregnant in 3/09, everyone immediately started picking out their names. My mother was easy. I call her Momma so she became Grandmomma. My dad and step-dad were easy with no preference and go simply by Grandpa. My aunt (whom is a second mother to me and provides my child care while I am working) and her husband are Pickle and Pap (his grandkids' name for him). Her nickname, Pickle, came from a story about her as a child. My FIL simply wanted to be Poppa and my Step-MIL, simply Nana. Easy peasy, right?
My MIL is still working on her "name" and Roxy is 9 months old. We've been through everything - Grandma, Grandmother, Grandma J, Granny Jeannie, Gigi, Mama J, Nana, MiMi, and this is the best - Sza Sza - as in Gabor. That was her favorite and everyone else's least favorite. Currently, we are in a Gigi phase. I can't wait to see what actually comes out of Roxy's mouth when she begins talking...
Awww so cute. My mom and I went around what she wanted to be called. She ended up picking Gma. And it stuck. I wish Ava had more time with her so my mom could hear her call her Gma, but I'm just glad she had a name picked that I can call her.
ReplyDeleteHis mom is just Grandma. The great grands are Grandma "Last Name".
My mom: Mamie
ReplyDeleteFlynn's Mom: Juba.. her name is Julia, a long standing nickname for her
Flynn's Dad: Mac, for McClanahan
My grandma: Grammy
Maddie(My sister): DeDe or NiNi as my niece calls her
Brenden(My Brother): Uncle Buck
Erin(My sister): Auntie E
Flynn's Grandma: Mimi
Flynn's Aunt: Grand Tootsie, another long standing nickname usually used without the Grand
Flynn's Aunt: LaLa
We HAVE SOO MANY Names!
My parents are (when Boo Boo is asking about WHO's house we are going to...) either Grandma & Grandpa -or Grandma and Grandpa in the grey house. T-bones parents are The OTHER Grandma and Grandpa, or the Grandma and Grandpa in the red house - although their house is brown and the house next door is red.
ReplyDeleteMY Grandmother decided she wants all the great-grandkids to call her GiGi. She is 96 - we do what she says.
Well, Kev's mom wanted to be Nana. For some reason that was a big deal to her. Then his dad just automatically became Papa. My little man doesn't see my parents very often though, and couldn't say Grandma and Grandpa, of course, but equated grandparents with Nana and Papa because he sees them so often, so MY parents became Nana and Papa too! It's kind of funny because even though Rusty calls them all Nana and Papa Kevin's mom will still refer to my parents as Grandma and Grandpa when she is talking about them to Caden, like she still wants to hold the sole title of Nana. I just don't think it's going to happen though! I think it is Nana and Papa all the way around!
ReplyDeleteI love how kids come up with names for everyone.
ReplyDeleteMia doesn't talk yet but my nephew has some great names for all of us. Grandpa=Bumpa, Grandma=jipjaw (not idea where the hell that came from) Nikki=neeno.
It's funny too because me and my sister used to call our grandpa Bumpa!
My daughter calls her paternal grandma - Mima (spanish), Mims for a spin, Grams. She calls my mother, "Grandma", "Abuela"
ReplyDeleteShe calls my grandmother, "Abuelita.." (little grandma...)
My stepson calls his grandma, "Nana", "Grams", "Granny Home Skillet"
Calls his great grandmother - "GG" I love that!
My grandpa has always been Papa. When my oldest daughter was little he became Bird Papa because, he has a bird. My step dad and FIL are Papa Tim and Papa Dick. My FIL waited until he had 3 grandkids (all 3 of them mine so the littles are learning Papa Dick) to start whining that he doesn't like to be called Papa Dick because his sisters say it funny! I don't see what the problem is with little children shouting Papa Dick at you? lol
ReplyDeleteMy mom wanted to be Busha (however you spell that, sorry I'm not Polish) but I put a stop to that since we're not actually Polish! So when Hannah called her Meme she was ecstatic to have a name given to her. MIL was not fond of Meme though, it reminded her of the clown lady from that Drew Cary show. So she's simply Grandma Diane (NOT grandma Christ because that's her MIL! lol)