What Do Your Grandchildren Call You?

Image via WikipediaWhen we became grandparents, Lou and I were overjoyed, and we mulled over what we wanted to be called. A name is an important thing, and we’d be hearing it (we hoped) for the rest of our lives. What a decision!

In the end, we simply wanted to be Grandma and Grandpa. Our children were fine with that, and our grandchildren presumably would have been too. However, there is an old saying, that people plan and G-d laughs! The grandchildren’s European babysitter referred to us as Bubby and Zayde when she spoke to them. It stuck, and now that’s who we are!

Friends of ours actually wanted to be Bubby and Zayde, and then the other grandparents wanted the same thing! So, with wisdom and a sense of fair play, their children urged them to be Bubby and Zaidy followed by surnames, Bubby and Zaidy Lindy. It is a mouthful!

In some cases families use Grandma and a first name such as Grandma Helen. One grandfather isn’t fond of being Grandpa “Dave.” He didn’t address it when the grandchildren, whom he adores, came along. In hindsight he wishes he had suggested, “Is there something else they could call me?”

From a child’s perspective, it is relatively straightforward: one grandparent, one name. However, it is very different on the other side:

Many grandparents have to remember what they are called by each family. If they have two children, they could have two sets of names; three children, three possibilities... Whenever they call a grandchild, they not only have to remember the child’s name but what he or she calls them so they can say, “Hi, Michael, this is ………”

Then there are blended families where grandchildren have real and “honorary” grandparents, and up to four sets of these combinations! If they themselves have step sisters or brothers, the possible combinations seem endless!

Finally, many of us are in good health and are or may become great grandparents. Add another level of complexity! No wonder there’s that phrase, “senior moments!”

Here at Goodcopy we are especially sensitive to this because not only does everyone in our family want to be called by name, we call our clients by name and our clients want to call their customers by name. Goodcopy uses high speed technology and sophisticated software to generate individually tailored and targeted mailings.

Fortunately for families, there are plenty of names as possibilities: Grandmother/father, Grammy/Grampy. Some of the other popular ones for grandmother are Nana, Mama, Mom-mom; for grandfather, Pop, Poppa, Gramps. Sometimes a grandchild can’t quite pronounce a name, and that version becomes the grandparental name! If you’re at the point of considering your alternatives, there are a tremendous number of them. For a whole list, this link has a lot of options: http://www.thenewparentsguide.com/grandparents-nicknames.htm

So… what do your grandchildren call you? Do you like what they call you??? If they call you by different names, how do you feel about it?