I have a 3 year old grandson who was having a hard time trying to figure out what to call each of his four grandparents. His mother told him to call us "grandma, grandpa train track" and his other set "grandma, grandpa no train track".
Our grandson loves trains and we always have kids trains for him to build the track and play trains. His other set did not have trains for him to play with. That made sense to him so the names stuck. So when his parents say they are going to grandma's house, he'll ask train track or no train track.
What about you?
When the oldest grandson was little,
I was Grandpa with the cows.........
I am Poppy, the wife is Meme (pronounced May May ). The other set of grandparents got the traditional grandmom & grandpop. It works, and my guess is I will change to 'pop' somewhere along the line when they get closer to adulthood, but if not... Poppy will still be fine
My wife is "Ba" short for "Ba Ngoai"..
I am "Ong Ngoai".
Translation : Grandmother and Grandfather on my Mothers side.
It's Vietnamese.
Be_Zero_Be
P.S. I dare you to pronounce it
Im also another "poppy" and my wife is "nanny"
My oldest cousin called my Dad's mom "Grammer" and it stuck--that's what her headstone says even. Even when she was a kid my wife called her Grammer (her mom & my Aunt were best friends since the late 1930 (so yes, I sorta married family).
I'm Grandpa and my ex-wife is Grandma and that pretty much covers it. There are no other Grandparents. And if my ex has anymore strokes I might be it.
I give all the kids the recruit depot dress down. It's "Sir, Sergeant Major, Sir ! Understand ?" (complete
with the at-attention salute. They think it's funny and get a lot of giggles trying to pull it off. Sometimes
I hear them drilling each other. We have a long standing tradition of the "boot-up-yer-axx" response
to both problem behavior and teasing. They get a real charge out of it when I tell them to go get me a pen.
I'm grampa Howie, and my wife is gramma. her ex has the best name, grampa dick !!! and we taught the grandkids to call his wife granma dick !!!
just sayin'
brasscarguy
2 call me Pappy
1 calls me Poppa
2 call me Grandpa
And the 18 year old calls me for rides and money.
Mark
My wife is, "Gramma."
I'm, "Grampa" to my oldest grandson who lives on the other side of the country.
To the local grandchildren, I'm, "Poppa." The three of them are in first and second grades and attend the school where I work. I have been called "Poppa" by some of the other kids who are not my grandchildren! Oh well, you can never have too many grandchildren.
: ^ )
I have set 4 ships in the sea, but none have yet returned with grandkids.....
Maybe they're not old enough yet, Michael? (I wanted until 35, so my oldest is just 14. I'd prefer to wait at least another 10 years for grandkids )
Grandpa and grandma from all three except when the youngest grand daughter(the Boss) wants to be serious then it's Keith. KGB
I'm Nonno and my wife is Nonna, Italian for Grandfather and Grandmother.
I was a little surprised to find out my daughter and her husband have been fostering a couple brothers. One is 10 yrs old and one is eight. The word is that they'll be adapting the boys on February 14th. They have no other children. I'm very excited to meet the boys. Through friends and my son I've learned the boys names and last weekend my son let me see a photo of them. If I'm ever allowed to meet them I'm sure I'll be called Mr Garrison. However they will always be my Grandchildren. It would be exciting to have the youngest see my Model T's and ride in my Corvette. I was told, the boy loves playing with toy trucks and toy race cars. Every day I wonder if they're aware they have a Grandfather. I will be their only Grandfather. They'll have two Grandmothers. I really don't concern myself with what the boys call them.
Our family is of German heritage, so the grandkids call me Opa and my wife Oma.
I am Opa and Anja was Oma, but that's not especially exotic. Those are the Dutch nicknames for grandparents (German also, I believe).
Funny, Bud, we were both posting the same names at the same time....
I'm Grandpa and my wife is Mimi. We only have one grandchild, but my younger son is engaged to a girl with a son. He's not talking much yet, so I'm not sure what he will call us, but I think I heard Papa come out of his mouth the other day. He already calls my son Daddy.
I'm surprised to not see a Papa listed so far. My two teenage grandsons call me Papa and my wife Nana. The latest addition, our youngest son and his wife's boy, is only 11 months old so he doesn't call us anything yet, he just smiles and that's all it takes.
Henry, since Anja was Dutch, she referred to me as "Papa" when she was talking to our kids and mentioning me. The younger two (my sons) switched to "Dad" a long time ago, but my daughter now calls me "Pap" (pronounced pop"), a shortened version. She is also the only one who speaks Dutch, so I guess it makes sense that she calls me that. I have heard other people use "Papa" for a grandfather, though.
I'm a 'PopPop', and wife is 'Mimi' to the grandkids.
The 5yr old granddaughter just did this birthday card for me in code.....my name must be read reflected in a mirror
All my grandchildren are grown and live away from here. When we correspond, I am grandpa and when I write or e-mail them I am grandpa Norm.
The great grandchildren have not written to me nor I to them. We only see them about once a year. Kind of sad, but that's the way it is. They also each live in a different direction and place, so they don't see each other either.
One of my grandsons, Mike, when he was visiting, drove one of my Model T's and another one rode in one of them in Yosemite. I will attach the picture of Jake, the youngest grandson, in the T at Yosemite a few years ago. He's 13 now, so maybe in a few years he will be able to drive it.
Norm
I don't know ( Yet ), it's another month before she will be born.
We are PopPop and MomMom to seven grandchildren. When my step sister's daughter had a set of twins she asked her husband what he wanted the grandkids the call him. He said "Fred" and that is what they call him.
Forgot to mention my step sister's husband's name is Bob not Fred.
There is a newspaper columnist in St. Louis named Bill McClellan who wrote the following once about his three-year-old granddaughter:
Her name is Evelyn Kathleen Sanchez. She is the result of two great migrations. Her mother’s family was part of the Irish immigration at the beginning of the last century, and her father’s family was part of the Latino immigration at the beginning of this one. Her dad is from Nicaragua.
She calls him Papa. That is part of her Latino heritage.
When Evie was just beginning to talk, she called me Dada. That’s because she heard my daughter calling me dad. Since her dad was Papa, I became Dada.
“I don’t want to be Dada,” I told my daughter. “I’ve been Dada, and I enjoyed it immensely, but I am past it.”
My daughter is like her mother. She is practical. She said if I didn’t want to be Dada, I should pick a name and everybody would start calling me that.
I opted for Coach. So my daughter started calling me Coach, and before long, Evie picked it up. So that’s what I am these days — Coach. As in, “Coach, let’s get ice cream.” To which I might reply, “And maybe a cookie a little later?”
I am Poppa and my wife is Nana as in a British Nana. I have two grand daughters, Maggie and Audrey 4 and 2 years old. They are the light of my life....
My father-in-law's name is George but he goes by his middle name of Malcolm. The family, including his grandchildren call him Max, although my wife often calls him George.
My wife's name is Cathryn but her mother often calls her Ruby and I call her Mildred. Go figure!
The oldest grandsons (10 & 7) call my wife "nana" and me grandpa, but the almost 2 yr. old grand daughter calls us "nana" and "ga". Love it.
Neither of my children are goats, so I don't have Grandkids, I have Grandchildren.
Only two, and they both call me Grand-dad. Which is nothing extraordinary I suppose, but I love it and I love being one.
When they were alive I called one of my grandfathers "Billy" and the other, "Farth". Both were WWI veterans.
Cheers,
We are Em and Ab. Hebrew for Grand mother and father/ grandfather. The "other grandparents" insisted that they be called grandma and grandpa. Since my wife had just finished taking Hebrew as part of her doctorate degree she thought Em and Ab would be OK
It is great because most of their friends know us as Em and Ab and we are not confused with others. Even the teaches in school know who we are and sometimes slip and call us Em and Ab.
I am "Bestefar" to my five grandkids. (grandfather in Norwegian)
I have 4 grandchildren and one on the way. My wife is called grandma and I am called grandpa-nator.
My paternal grandfather was Grandad, my maternal grandfather was Grandpa Dean. My grandkids call me Grandad.
Our grandkids call me "G-Pa" and my wife "G-Ma".
We called our father Pappy and our mother Ma.
my 28 year old grand son calls me The old man with the old cars. He says this in a respectful manner since he knows he will get one of the T's
but not which one. Since he lives close to Dan Killicut, perhaps I should send him to see Dan
for some early pointers on the T.
John
I am Paw Paw.
While I don't love my granddaughter a bit more than I love my daughter, it is a bit different.
As Daddy, (especially when I was much younger) I constantly worried if I could handle the responsibility.
My daughter turned out OK, so now I know I can handle it and then some.
Due to the lack of stress "Paw Paw" seems much more enjoyable.
.....did I mention that my granddaughter loves to ride in "Lizzie" (She pronounces it "Izzy)
Several yrs ago Grace and I traveled out of state to watch three of our grandkids for a few days. My 5 yr old granddaughter was sittin on my lap while Gramma Gracie was cooking. I told little Alex that I was aware that she knew Gramma Gracie's name since they all called her that but wondered if she knew my name since they only called me Poppy. I like to fell on the floor when she said "oh Poppy I do know your name but I can't say it because it's a bad word" True story
Dick Missett
My first trip to Chickasha was 3 years ago. On the way back home (sorta' "round about way") I was planning to stop and visit family in northern Wisconsin. I called my grand daughter from Chickasha to let her know I was coming, as nobody likes surprises, right? Well, all my grand kids call me grandpa, and my great grand kids call me great grandpa. All that is except little Ethan, who was 4 years old at the time, and who I had not seen since he was a baby. When I arrived, my grand daughter could hardly wait to explain to me about her detailed explanation to little Ethan, about just who it was that was coming to visit. She told me,...." about the time I finally thought he understood, she said he told her that "Grandpa the Great" is coming"! I told my grand daughter that that's one "title" I'm going to keep! Actually, he's 7 now but still calls me "Grandpa the Great" as a sort of joke between us!
Dick,
That's funny right there.
Dick M.
A friend of mine was telling me his email address that he shares with his wife.
He said, "It is DicklovesPeggy@......."
But then he added, "Don't get the names the other way around".
Dick M.
I sometimes have lunch at a local Arby's. When the cashiers take your order they ask your name so that you can be called by name when your lunch is up.
Most of the workers there are young Hispanic girls. They whispered my name so quietly that I couldn't hear them. So I started telling the cashier that my name is Ricardo. Now those same young ladies call out my name loud and clear. And I don't have to spell it for the cashier, either.
It doesn't seem to bother them that a honky could be named Ricardo.
The manager is probably 65 or so. He gets a big kick out of calling me Reeky Ricardo. If he's out front when my lunch comes up he makes a big deal of bringing the tray out to me. A couple of weeks ago he brought out my tray and made a big show of telling a group of ladies at the next table that he had a celebrity guest, and introduced me as Reeky Ricardo. Turned out one of the ladies was named Lucy. They all got a big kick out of that. (If anybody out there is under 60, ask one of your elders to explain it to you.)
Dick
It varies with the grand kids but my daughters call me "Collect." (I say, that's a joke son.)
I use to tell Carolyn "Call Home" ....
Both my Grandsons call me Grandad and Heather is called Nana.
The other grandparents are Grandma and Grandp, their choice.
I wish restaurants wouldn't ask my name. Perhaps it's my Southern accent, but when I tell them "Hal", it always seems to get messed up. Either they misspell it or they didn't understand what I said, or both and it ends up being "Hale", "Hall", or "Harold" or else I have to repeat it or spell it or.....so now when they ask, I tell them "Number 29". I know they think they are being more personable that way, but frankly, it makes me uncomfortable when I have to go through that whole rigmarole. Not to mention how many "John's" or whatever may be in single crowded restaurant. It seems that calling a number printed on the receipt makes more sense.
Sorry for the thread drift.
Hal,
How often do you think people get my name straight when I tell them? ;-)
Roar
Hal, I really don't like the fake friendship that the use of a first name implies. If a complete stranger the right age to be my grandchild is going to call me by my first name, it's going to be because I said it was okay, not because it's being forced on me. Actually, numbered tickets work just fine.
By the way, when they ask my name for a food order, I tell them, "Sir." Then when I hear, "Sir, your order is ready," I know it's for me...
Roar,
I have often wondered if that was your real name or just what you wished to be called on the internet. Yeah, I can bet they never get that right.
I have given my last name instead of first, but I still get "Davies" or "David" occasionally. A number works just fine for me and I wasn't kidding when I said I tell them that in a restaurant. I really do.
Most people call me Norm. It doesn't bother me how old the people are. Mr. Kling is very difficult. They either say King, Cline or some other name. Norm is just fine with me. This calling by first name came about with women's liberation. The married women wanted to be called MS, but that offended some who said they were either Miss or Mrs. Then the last name became a problem. Some women changed theirs when they married and others didn't. So calling by the first name became popular. It spread to men as well. Anyway I don't care. As long as I get called in time for dinner!
Norm
Hal
If they confuse your name at restaurants, do what I do. Tell them your name is Thor, god of Thunder.
Dick F
From someone(me)who has been a Dick all his life that is a great story. When I am in those situations or make reservations I always use my formal name.
Richard
I just tell 'em,......."Schwendeman,....common spelling".
Hal,
Roar is not that uncommon a name in Norway. I once did a search in the white pages of Norwegian phone book, and five other "Roar Sand" popped up.
Roar, am I correct in assuming that "Roar" has two syllables in Norwegian?
Wow, this thread hit the sweet spot amongst the members! My grandson calls me PaPa.
It was lunch with Grandparents at our 6 year old grandson's school today. I'm standing in the hallway in line for Turkey dinner when I happen to look at the writing displays posted on the wall and see one in a first graders printing that says,
"I love my Grandpa because he plays with me"
Hudson Chambers
Hudson is our Grandson and he calls me Grandpa.
Until recently, we had 6 granddaughters and no grandsons. Most call me Grandad which one of my Grandfathers was called and what my father was called by our 3 kids. Of the 6 granddaughters, 3 call me Granddad, one calls me Grandpa and 2 call me Grandy. Now a newly adopted Grandson, 2 years old, calls me Grandad. My wife Marilyn, is called Grandma by all. As others have said, I don't care what they call me because we are so fortunate to have them and to have good relationships with them and our children and their spouses. Also fortunate to get to spend a lot of time with them even though they are spread out across the country.
We're getting into some fertile territory with that restaurant-type name call out.
It's BURGER, with ONE "e" really stumps them. Where did this "Berger" nonsense
come from, anyway ? 990 times out of 1000, the word/name is spelled with a "u"
and one "e", yet every bonehead I encounter wants to write my invoices up as "Berger" !
I often want to avoid having my name called out in public places, so I use "Kaszimierscz"
or "Kosciuscko" to keep things interesting.
When I was still a teenager, I told the girl at a restaurant my name was "Kawalski". Polish names not being very common in my area, she then asked me to spell it. I was kinda at a loss at that point. I didn't know how to spell "Kawalski", and probably still don't.
Aw come on Hal, all us ole people watched
"Killer Kawalski" on TV.in the 50's..
and Me it simply the old man she named me and hers
is battle axe.. as in Rick Harrison's old man
That's funny, Dick.
My mother is "good grandma". My mother-in-law is "evil grandma". The kids understand perfectly.
I never can figure out how people have trouble with "Bufalini". I get it spelled with two "fs" an "o" on the end but probably the worst was a letter addressed to me as "Marty Barfalini"!!!
When we live near N. Providence RI, a predominantly Italian area, few people got our last make correct.
Most people called us DiMoki and the few that got it right spelled it DiMock.
I guess that they have a hard time with names that do not end in a vowel.
In Mexico and Spain I am Fredrico.
In China it is
I haven't a clue if the China name is even close. All I can hope is that it is not too bad.
Dick, I laughed 'til I cried----that is funny!!!!!
My natal name is really easy to spell but I get mail for a Mr Son Nicholson, Mr Samuel Nicholls,
Roger Neechols and a half dozen other names. The address is the same on all. I spelled the sames and mailed out some money orders one month to pay the bills. They were all credited to various accounts we have. We did this to see how soon
we would start getting donation requests. Wasting there time and money Some times we gather up all the junk mail and return it to the senders. In the case of local grocery markets, we hand carry to the manager.
Something two old people can do for fun.
John
A little drift here My wife's name is PEGGY not MARGARET when she gets something from a local merchant addressed to MARGARET she goes to the business and gives them a what for, I don't mind, sometimes I think she just likes to blow off steam just to do it!