As I mentioned previously, our oldest and his wife have bestowed upon us (and others) the majestic duty of having a grandchild. After we were notified, but before this child was born, we were asked—what do you want the baby to call you?
Once upon a time it was just a single option—Grandma and Grandpa. Those were tough times. We couldn’t afford choices and we were too proud to ask for help in coming up with unique identifiers for our grandchildren.
Thankfully the economy has rebounded and the names a child can call their parent’s parents has grown leaps and bounds.
I sat down to consider.
“Nana and Papa”? A solid choice and it certainly caters to the tiny child’s inability to speak clearly. It significantly increases that likelihood that the baby will say that name over something perhaps more complicated like “Grandest of fathers”. So that’s on the list.
“Grammy and Gramps”? This too is a solid option. Someone referred to as “Gramps” always has a pocketknife ready to whittle at a moment’s notice and always has a newspaper to read while waiting in the car of the grocery store parking lot while Granny is inside buying necessities. As grandparents those include things like butterscotch hard candies and pudding (rice or tapioca, please and thank you). Great choices.
Mee-Maw and Pee-Paw. Absolutely not. Do I look like a “Pee-Paw”? Stop. Don’t answer that. I don’t want to know.
Nanny and Pappy. Since I do not smoke a corncob pipe or chew tobacco, I’m afraid this one won’t work. NEXT!
Yaya and Boppa. Do our grandchildren speak a language other than English? If so, then, whatever they call us is in that language is acceptable. However, these names seem like nonsense, so barring someone enlightening me on the native language of our grandchildren, I’m afraid these are not going to work. Bops? Nope.
Gigi and Pipi. These seem like great names, if we were 6 inches tall and lived in a shoebox under the stairs.
Grandma and Grandpa. Yes. This.
