It's a grand idea to let kids make the call
BY BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Monday, February 18, 2013
2/18/13 at 6:50 AM
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I never thought much about what my grandkids call me.
Our first grandchildren, twin boys, began to call us Nonny and Papa almost as soon as they could talk, and it stuck. We loved it. Now all of the grandkids call us that. And it's become a handy moniker for their friends and girlfriends, and even some sons- and daughters-in-law who can't quite get over the hurdle of calling us mom and dad, or by our first names.
My wife even loved it when one of the grandsons, not yet in school, dropped the "y" and began to call her "Non."
So the grandparent name thing was never an issue in our family, and it never occurred to us to be concerned about what our grandkids called us, or what they called their other grandparents.
Apparently that's not true in every family.
It turns out some families struggle with who gets to choose the grandparent name, what to do when the other grandparents choose the same or a similar name, how to handle children who don't like the grandparent name, whether to correct grandchildren who misuse the name, and other issues.
One informal poll, with a small sample, found that 13 percent of people think the parents should choose the grandparent names, 34 percent said it should be the kids, 5 percent said it should be the grandparents, and 46 percent said it should be a combination of the above. We fell into the 34 percent.
Lists of grandparent names are even published to help people decide this all-important question. Who knew?
I notice my wife did not make one person's list of either traditional grandmother names, or of modern grandmother names. I, however, did make the grandfather name list, with a little spelling variation.
Grandmother
TRADITIONAL:
Big Mom
Gram
Gramma
Grammy
Grams
Grandma
Grandmama
Grandmom
Grandmother
Grannie
Ma or Maw
Mamo
MawMaw
Mema
Memaw
Mom-Mom
Nana
Nanny
MODERN:
BeBe
Bella
GiGi
G-Ma
G-Mom
Honey
Lovey
MayMay
Mia
Mim
Grandfather
TRADITIONAL:
Grandfather
Grandpa
Grampa
Grandpappy
Gramps
Granddad
Granddaddy
Grandpop
PawPaw
Big Paw
Peepaw
Papadaddy
Pop
Poppa
Pops
Pop-Pop
Poppy
Big Daddy
Boom-pa
Bompa
Bumpy
Boppa
MODERN:
Chief
Captain
G
G-Daddy
G-Pa
Duke
Buddy
Bill Sherman 918-581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com
