My wife's sister is going to be a Grandmother for the first time. She is trying to decide what she would like to be called. Grandma,Nana or Mom Mom. I remember that decision when I made it. I decided upon Grandpa. My own Grandfather I called Gramp. Here in Greensboro Maryland Pop Pop is the norm. I just don't care for that. It has to do with what you are used to hearing. It is a foreign term to me but I'm sure quite comforting and endearing to those used to it.
That lead me to thinking about all these terms we use. Growing up,adult friends of my parents were all addressed as " Aunt" and "Uncle" as terms of respect. I suspect that may be a throwback to the old days when the town was very small and most people were related in some fashion. Adult strangers were called Sir and Maam. I called my father,Dad and Mother was Ma. I know that my Grandmother called her father Papa. I'm pretty sure my Mom did the same. My own Mother always calls her Mom,.Momma.
A lot depends on where you are in the country.Here in Greensboro kids talk to adults by using the Mr. or Miss in front of your first name. As in, Hello Mr. Ben or Hi Miss Ann. It is always Miss though regardless of martial status. Some of it depends upon the preference of the person. Some of it depends upon what the parents want. And still some more of it depends upon other factors. Others have often asked my Grandchildren if I was there Pop Pop ? When they were real little it was confusing to them. Now ,most of the time they will either just say yes or say he is my Grandfather.
Teaching relationships to children can be a challenge. I know I didn't become clear about a lot of them until I was an adult. Once you get past first cousins it can get complicated. Third cousins,twice removed and such. The different titles we all use add to that confusion as well. Pop Pop is pretty self explanatory. Gramp can be misleading. Nana is another. A contraction of some sort.
Well that is one more perk to being a Grandparent. You get to have some input into the whole name thing. Didn't get any choice about your own. Didn't get much of a choice about what to call your own Grandparents. Didn't get any choice about how to address other adults. Well now I get the choice ! I'm Grandpa and don't you forget it !
The choice of what to call grandparents may also have to do with how many of them there are! In this age of divorce/remarriage, there are no longer 2 sets of grandparents for children. In our own case, we have me, Grammie, who is married to Mike. Mike is as much a Grandpa as anyone, he's been in my life since before my first grandchild was born. We decided to call him Papa in order to make it easier for kids to discern from my ex-who is Grampa. His wife is Grandma M (first name). There is a "Mammy", Pap,Pappy, Pop-pop, Great Gramma,Ma-Mah and Abuelo in this large,combined family,as well. Everybody knows who everyone is, because we all have different names. I think,like you said, that sometimes location, as well as nationality, has a good deal to do with the naming of grandparents. Pap and Pappy are from Penn. Ma-Mah and Abuelo are the Latino grandparents for 2 of my granddaughters. I guess, mostly, it's a matter of preference
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are Grandpa and Grandma - we love it. Our little grandsons are over to our place a lot, as soon as they come in the front door they start yelling, "Grandma, Grandma, where are you?" I just love it :)
ReplyDeleteMy husband called his grandmother, Grandma Green, she was really the only grandparent throughout his childhood as the others all passed away either before he was born or when he was a small child.
I called my Dad's mom, Nanny, I was very close to her and I was her first grandchild, his father died before I was born. I called my Mom's mom, Gran, and her dad I called Grandad.
My three year old grandson seems to have the relative thing sorted out. I am blessed that my parents are still alive and live locally. My daughter came over with the boys to pick me up to go visit my mother. Grandson Henry marched in and informed me that he was ready to go see my mommy! (his great grandma).
Found you blog from Joyful Chaos.
Blessings to you,
Bean