Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

When DD was born 3 years ago, my mother wanted to be called grandma (I agreed. I always called my grandma that). DH wanted his mother to be called grandma too. Since the same for him. So, we raised DD calling both grandmas "grandma". Well my DD is pretty intelligent. So to differentiate between which grandma she is thinking of or talking about, she says "grandma" for the present one and "other grandma" for the other one. It does switch, so sometimes my mom is other grandma and sometimes his mother is other grandma. She usually just says other grandma to us, to tell us who she is talking about, but once she called MIL on the phone and referred to her directly as "other grandma" once or twice. Now she is saying she wants to be called "grandma (her first name)" ... and I'm not sure I'm comfortable with my DD calling her "grandma 1st name". Not sure. Any thoughts on this??

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

We do "Grandma (first name)" for both grandmas. I think it helps when we're explaining that we're going to Grandma so and so's house so he knows the difference. Sometimes he just says Grandma referring to the most recent one he saw or spoke to, but I think it's a little confusing.

I was raised calling both of my grandmas "Grandma (last name)" but that felt too formal for us...

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Growing up we called both grandmas "Grandma" but to differentiate we would call them Grandma First name. I never thought anything if it; it's just what we knew growing up.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

It wouldn't matter to me. We have grandma and mima now. Growing up both we're Nanny. We ended up calling them my their respective dogs names followed by nanny. Lol. Like fido nanny and Elmo nanny. Lol

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Of course it should be Grandma (first or last name)! Just the name 'grandma' when there are two is incredibly confusing and I'd hate it if I was ever referred to as "other grandma" lmao. That just doesn't sound nice at all. Even though I get that the nickname switches between them, it just makes that grandma probably feel like an after thought. Ick. No good. My cousins didn't used to differentiate as kids either and they ended up calling one "little grandma" and the other "big grandma" (because one was a TINY little woman and the other wasn't huge, but bigger). Yikes! You know how badly that hurt 'big grandma's' feelings? So wrong of their parents to let the kids be that disrespectful. When I was a kid we called my dad's mom Grandma (first name) and my mom's mom Grandma (last name). I'm not sure why we didn't just do both firth names (as I like that better than last) but probably just because she had a cool last name and it flowed. With DD each grandma is obviously Grandma (first name). Why wouldn't you want her calling her grandma that? It's kinder and makes it a lot less confusing for everyone. If you think it's disrespectful to use first name (which I don't get why - aren't Aunts and Uncles the same way? Uncle Fred, Aunt Marlene, etc?) then you could do the last name to keep it more formal.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

DH refered to his grandmothers by Grandma "last name." We differentiated between my grandmothers because we only had one grandfather (my dad's father disappeared when I was a toddler), so it was grandmother who lived with us and grandmother with grandfather.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

DD calls my mom Grandma, and my MIL is Grandma (first name).

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

we differentiate by doing grandma first name and last name (it was their choice which name they wanted to be called). I also grew up calling them by first or last names.

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Growing up - I called both of my grandmothers grandma and if I had to differentiate for some reason (when they were not present) I used their last name.

For my great grandmothers - they were referred to as Grandma first name (they were alive for awhile during my childhood).

I don't think it's a huge deal.

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

I would always call both mf my Grandmothers "grandma (first name) if I was speaking about them to differentiate) but when I was at thier home or family party it was just Grandma. If they were both present we would use their name after Grandma also. Its not a big deal as long as Grandma preceeds its.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

growing up i only knew one set of grandparents so they were grandma and grandpa, my daughters spend much more time with my parents, they have watched them since birth and so my parents are just grandma and grandpa, dhs mom and her so are grandma first name and grandpa first name, their cousin does the same thing, she started it, i think sometimes it bothers her and i try to teach them when speaking to them just say grandma but when referring to her like we are going to their house we say grandma first name
sometimes if i just say grandma they will ask for clarification of which grandma and i say my mom they know, or grandma first name, unfortunately they prefer my mom

its really just easier calling both grandma is confusing

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

I differentiated my grandmas by calling them Grandma (last name). Why we did the last name I don't know because I think the first name is much more common. But if I was with that Grandma, I just called her Grandma.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Why not? Growing up everyone I knew was Grandma first name or grandpa first name. My friends called their grandparents the same. My parents called their grandparents grandma first name etc. I would just say grandma when one was present but to differentiate it was grandma Ruth etc. my kids call my grandmother great grandma Ruth. My kids call my mother -grandma first name and MIL insisted on being grandma first name.

It seems these days I hear papa, Mimi, pop pop, nana. Growing up it was more of a cultural thing to call them something else. Mostly my Italian friends etc used something else.

Btw several people I know prefer nana or Mimi because they think grandma first name sounds old not because it is disrespectful.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

We have 2 pop pop's. My mom is Mum and mil is grandma. When asking about pop pop, they say "mums pop pop or grandma's pop pop". I say mum or grandmas depending on who I mean.

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

If both grandmothers wanted to be called grandma, then they'd be called grandma first name.

My mom is grandma, mil is nanny, and sm is Grammy.

Growing up, I had a grandma and an abuela. I think it's just easier for them to have different names but I wouldn't object to grandma first name.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Growing up it was always grandma name and grandma name. It's how we differentiated the two.

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

DD calls both Grandma's "MeMa" But to differentiate between the two, when she is talking about my mom, she'll say "MeMa and PePa" When she is talking about my MIL she'll just say "MeMa" (DH father passed away years ago) Or She'll refer to my MIL as "MeMa XXX" (first name) Growing up I had a Grandma and a Nana.

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

I don't see a problem with it at all. Everyone does something different. My daughter has a Nana and a Grandma but growing up we differentiated our grandparents by where they lived. My father's parent's lived in the Adirondack area and were always referred to as grandma and grandpa upstate.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Awwwww lol sorry that's cute, and other grandma is awful. ..

I had one easy going bubbly grandma and we called her grandma first name, my other grandma was more strict in general, and we called her grandma last name !!

Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

I think it's fine to find an appropriate way to differentiate between the 2.. I used to call both my grandmothers grandma- and eventually, on my own, started calling my mom's mother "special grandma" bc she was the one who spoiled me rotten and took me everywhere. I was young- probably like 4, so I didn't know better, but it still hurt my other grandmother's feelings and my dads as well

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

Growing up we said Grandma LAST NAME and Grandma LAST NAME.

I'm 31 and I still call my father's mother Grandma LAST NAME.

Re: Grandma topic. Any thoughts on this?

My daughter and her ex had this issue with the boys.

They were explaining to the boys that grandma in NY (me) was grandma Millie. And grandma that lived by them would be only grandma. To this day they still call her "only grandma". It's the cutest and funniest thing. She loves. And these days my oldest grandson combined grandma millie and started calling gram-millie. I love it.

And don't see a problem with it. She may change it the older she gets.

Message edited 6/2/2015 2:41:45 PM.