How Do Grandparents Decide What They Want To Be Called?
Grandparents Decide What They Want To Be Called
So you are going to be a grandparent….Congratulations! Maybe you’ve already been to a gender reveal party and bought the first (of many gifts) for your grandchild. Now it’s time to think about what your little grand-love is going to call you, that is if you get to choose.
There are families that let the grandchild choose. My parents, for example, let our first child name them and when our son called my dad “Pee-Paw” my dad was not pleased. Thankfully, as our son grew older he changed their names to Grandma and Grandpa, which went over much better.
Years Later…
When my first grandchild came along I already knew I wanted to be “Nana.” My cousin and BFF, was called Nana by her grandchildren and it just seemed a good fit. NanaHood, the blog, didn’t come about until my first grandchild was about a year old.
How do most grandparents decide what they want to be called? According to an article on USAtoday.com a site called BabyCenter did a survey and 41% of grandparents go with traditional names. For more on the different ways names are chosen read this article on NanaHood.
After You Decide Who Gets to Choose.…
If you are allowed to choose how do you decide what name you want to go with? Remember, whatever the first grandchild calls you will probably be what the next one does so make sure you love it!
If you want to know what’s the most popular name in your state then click here. If you want to choose an original name and need some help coming up with something different click here for the most unique grandmother names.
What’s In A Name
Trust me, it matters what your grandchildren call you. You will hear it a minimum of 2,000 times a day once they learn to talk. But the truth of the matter is…..you won’t care as much what they call you…as long as they call you. Nothing sounds sweeter to my husband and me, than hearing “Nana” and “Poppa.”
Tell us what your grands call you! We love hearing from you!
When we found out our first grandchild was on the way, I did an enormous amount of research on grandparent names. After all my research, I decided to stick with Mimi, which is the name my honorary niece and nephew call me. I quickly headed to Etsy and ordered Mimi shirts in all colors and styles. I was prepared! My adorable grandson was born almost a year ago. He is my little love! When he started babbling and trying out words, I was tickled pink! Until…he tried out his word for me. Was it Mimi? Nope. My sweet little angel refers to me as Nana! He says it loud and with conviction. He changed my world then he changed my name. I have embraced the change and my Etsy cart is now full of shirts that say Nana, ?
My husband’s family already had a Nana and Pa as well as a Mimi and Pop. My son-in-law’s parents were already Grandma and Paw Paw. So, we already eliminated some possibilities – none of which I had on my radar – because I wanted something unique. I decided on Dee Dee because my middle initial and maiden name both start with D. I knew it would be easy to say and not likely to be copied. For my husband, we just kicked around variations of “Grandpa” until we landed on Gramps. It captures his fun personality for sure. And there’s nothing quite like hearing those three sweet voices call our names – even 10, 20 or however many times in a phone call or FaceTime – or especially in person. So glad God chose us to be these two boys’ and one girl’s Dee Dee and Gramps!
My only grandchild so far has been diagnosed with ASD and so far hasn’t spoken many words that can be understood! This was unexpected of course and I couldn’t love him any more but look forward to the day he says “Grammy, I love you!” No matter what it sounds like I will treasure those words! Simon will be two next month.