What Should My Grandchildren Call Me?
www.raisingyourgrandchildren.com
When grandparents are raising a grandchild, what should the child call them?
Even though some people have quite strong opinions that the child should only call the grandparent, grandparent names, not parent names, there are no shoulds here. I do not believe there is one right answer for everyone.
I believe the children should be allowed to call their grandparents what makes them feel comfortable and safe, and grandparents ought not feel guilty if their grandchild calls them parent type names. After all, we are playing the parent role NOT the grandparent role. The following is a list of names for grandparents that some of my readers have sent me.
- Mom and Poppop
- Mama and Papa
- Meme and Papa
- Gwemmie and Pop-pop
- Omi an informal slang of the formal Oma in German
- Mom and Dad
- Grandma
- Meema
- Mommy and Daddy
- Mimi
- Mom and Papa
When we first got our 3 grandchildren 4 years ago, we were Nana and Papa. The children were newborn, 2, and 4. After a year, the middle child, at age 3, completely dropped the Nana and called me Mama. After the second year, the oldest at age 6 abruptly switched to Mom, and never called me Nana again. So I am both Mom and Mama. My husband remains Papa, except when the oldest talks about him to others, then he is Dad. Occasionally, the youngest now 4, calls him Daddy.
Our oldest, age 8 now, told me one day. "Mom, I just want my friends at school to know you're my mom, not my grandmother." Those that need to know our situation, do. To everyone else, I am just her mom. She shares her story when she feels the need. One day while coming home on the bus, she heard the bus driver mention to someone on her radio that one of the other girls lived with her grandmother. My granddaughter told the friend that she lived with her grandmother too. The girl at first did not believe her but eventually was convinced and appreciated that she was not alone in this situation. I was pleased to see my granddaughter's empathy for the girl.
So when deciding what your grandchildren will call you, realize that what you call yourself may not be what your grandchildren eventually opt to call you.
This has helped - we are wondering if it is okay for our 2yr old to call us mom and dad. My husband wants to call him papa - nut Jayden doesn't yet.
Posted by: Doris | December 01, 2006 at 07:35 AM