That is what happened in my family,both grandmothers dislike being called nana..so we opted for grammy sue and grammy whatever... it's fine.

I can't wait to have grandchildren. As far as I am concerned they can call me what they like. I don't "get" grandparents who insist on picking their grandchildrens' endearments.

My DSIL sometimes calls me "ma". I cringe a bit but it's said with love so ....so what.

It is between you and your grandson. You are already being called Grammy by your granddaughter and I think that name should continue. You aren't your son's grandmother so it doesn't matter whether or not he likes it. IMHO you should be called whatever you want to be called (within reason, of course).

In Germany you'd be "Oma".

Well, I agree that it'll be up to your grandson, but of course he's got to get an idea or 2. For example, will your son say "go see Grammie" (I guess not) or "go see Nana", or whatever? Somebody has got to introduce something, and then the child will either be able to say it or come up with something close. I had a friend who called her grandmother "Gamma" all her life, because that's the only way she could say "Gramma" when she was little and it stuck.

So - you, your son, your DIL should agree to something, and then the child will take it from there.

I'd stick with Grammy. What if the 2 grandkids are together-they'll be calling you different names??

My in-laws had their names all picked out when 1st grandaughter (my niece) was born. My niece couldn't say either of those names, so she came up with 2 of her own and those have stuck for 15 years. LOL

I'm just Grandmother. I like it, guess GS does as well.

Funny that you mentioned "Oma," Jannie - that is what my Grandson calls his other Grandmother but I think that is just what he started calling her and wasn't on purpose although they did spend a number of years in the AF stationed in Germany(my DIL and her parents). I wanted to be called "Mimi" which is what my son called the lady who took care of him as a baby - she was like a Grandmother to him since his others were across the country. He said,"No" that there was only one Mimi - so I chose "Nana" and I love hearing my Grandson say it. Actually he said "Nana" about the same time he said Mama and Dada. I think it makes it special that each Grandparent has a special title. My husband is Grandpa and my DIL's dad is "Zaydee", a jewish title given to the first Grandfather of each generation.

I was in one of those situations where the first two grands were actually stepgrands of mine. Our oldest, a grandson, didn't really call us anything but when his sister was born she named me Mi-Mi one day when I had her all to myself (loved those times). I got her laughing so hard she just laughingly blurted out, "Oh Mi-Mi" over and over. From then on I had my special name and both kids called me that. Now all 4 of them them do, including my biological grandson. I love it.

Harry's called Pop-Pop and he got that name from oldest grandson. All the grandkids call their other grandmothers Grandma.

I think if you leave them alone they will name you. But even if your son refers to you as grandma, the child may very well name you something else.

I'll be waiting to hear the outcome--it will be about a year though :-)

Just because you (or someone else) gives you a name doesn't mean the child will use it.

On one side of my family I was the oldest Grandchild and I called them Granny and Granddaddy. On the other side I was number 8 of 12. The others all called them Mom and Dad. I never did. They were also Granny and Granddaddy. (I was a stubborn little kid and wouldn't change what I called them either.)

As my Grandchildren's other Grandmother (Nana) says she doesn't care what they call her as long as they call her.

Linda

my 3 oldest son's boys call me "gramma" but spell it "grandma". the next son's 2 children call me "mamoo" which is what the now 8 year old started on her own as a little one. the almost 5 year old child of my daughter calls me "gramma julie" since she has 2 others who she calls each "gramma ____". it's funny when she is around the 8 yr old who calls me "mamoo".........she calls me that also with a little grin, like she has just joined a special club! i love hearing all of them call me, no matter what the title is.

Mine always called me Grandm (and my name)

I think the child and his parents will end up picking your name. They will refer to you as they want and that is what the child will call you.

Generally, you should be able to pick the name but I would respect your son's dislike of the name grammy. Probably because I also really, really hate the term "grammy".... Maybe it's regional but I can't imagine anyone wanting to be called that.

I figured somebody would post that they didn't like the name Grammy, but I didn't expect to hear someone say they "really, really hate" it. I hope no one ever calls you that by mistake, Carla. LOL

You bring up a good point, Suzieque--my son and his wife will give the baby his first clues about my name. I might as well give up. Although my daughter and her daughter love "Grammy" and are rooting for me to stick with it.

Jae mentioned Mamoo--that's another name my son likes, because his dad used to call me that once in a while for fun. It's a cute name. One of my cousins is Oma. Growing up in NYC, some of my friends called their grandmothers Bubbe. Maybe I'll try that out.

PS: I don't know how regional Grammy is; I don't know any others.

My Jewish girlfriends called their grandmothers Bubbe. My Greek girlfriend is called YaYa.

Have you heard if the other Grandmother has requested any specific name?

You will probably end up with whatever name your DIL gives you since she'll be the one spending the most time with your GS.

My friends, whose baby I watch,refer to me as Grandma Linda. When I am with Finn I just refer to myself as Grandma. He rarely sees his real grandmas who live some distance away. I would really dislike being called Nana or Mamo but that is just me.

I had my moms first grandchild..she was called Granny..when my sisters and brothers kids came along, they called her Mamoo..I have no idea where that one came from! LOL
I always called my grandmothers Grandmother 1st name or Grandmother last name.

Two of my friends have become grandmothers this year and one is NANA and one is YAYA.

So for now call yourself what ever and let that baby decide..

My MIL was delighted with our daughter (her first grandchild) but had a real problem with being identified as a grandmother. Luckily, DD's efforts at grandma came out Bebop, which made everyone happy ever after.

My Mom was Nana, like my grandmother had been.

My granddaughter decided on her own to call me Baba. I have no idea where she got that from...but since it came directly from her, it stuck. All the subsequent grands were introduced to Baba.

Helene

Bubbee is what I call my Dachshund affectionately. I'm grandma to my two, my kids called both theirs 'grandma', and I called my two 'grandma', so it continues. It sometimes is confusing when both of us grandmas are in the same room and both answer when the kid calls. When he was tiny ,he called me old grandma and the other new grandma. Actually she is six years older than me. It had to do with proximity. I live two miles away and she lives two hours.

I don't care what the kids call me,,,,just so long as they call me occassionally

Boy, a lot of responses lol. When my first Grandchild was born, she had 3 Grandmothers, 2 Great-Grandmothers, and 1 Great, Great-Grandmother. In that pecking order I wasn't at the top. I didn't want one of the "Southern" goofy names like Meemaw etc. I came up with "Mia" now it's what all the Grandkids call me, and all their friends. I get introduced to their friends parents as Mia, so there are times that adults call me that too LOL

Oooh.....I like Mia! Of course, I had a sweet cat named Mia once, so that's probably influencing me. The only "Granny" I ever knew was a witch-and-a-half, so that's out. I'm not a Nana person.

I read an article about how today's grandmothers are active and young in spirit, and don't want to be given "old" names. My grandmother Lucky was ahead of her time, I guess. When I was born, she said she was too young to be a grandmother. She was 70! I was only 48 when my first grandchild was born. But I know what she meant......I'm not a rocking-chair grandmother either.

Have you heard if the other Grandmother has requested any specific name?

Yes--she wants to be called Grandma. And both of us live nearby, so it's not as though one won't be around much. I think my son is probably stuck on Grandma because that's what he called my mother. My parents lived in Florida, so we didn't see them often, but he loved them. I don't remember what my kids called their other grandmother, and they don't remember either. I guess that says something. She was a very nice person, but lived in Bermuda or Arizona, and had health problems by the time my son came along.

If I had a strong ethnic heritage I might look to that for ideas. But I'm a mix--a real American mutt. I guess having one Jewish grandfather doesn't make me a Bubbe. LOL

I agree that you will probably have little input into what your grandchild calls you. However, don't take my word for it. I don't have "natural" grandchildren. My two sons married women with children almost grown and chose not to have any more.

My boys called my mother "Big Grandma" and their dads mother "Little grandma". They (or rather the older boy) picked the names. My mother was 5'5" tall and my husbands mother was 4'11".

Alisande, this is from someone with 6 grand children, now all grown, and 4 great grand children, you cannot pick a name for him to call you. He will pick that name all by himself. I am gram to some grandkids, grandma to some, and mahmah to 2 great grandkids, and Nenaw, to the great grandson, I see every day. The 4th is only 6 wks old, so have no idea what she will decide to call me. My husband is grandpa to some, and PaPa to some. The kids picked that all on their own too. You just need to let them pick what they call you on your own, and it may or may not be a name you will like, but, it will be what they want it to be. LOL

My mom was called "GG" the letter G twice..

My daughters called their two Grandmothers "Grandma Josie" (Josephine) and "Grandma Wood" (her last name). One daughter told me recently she thought calling her Grandma Wood was too formal. cate52 reminded me my mother's nickname was "GiGi" because those were her maiden name initials.

It kind of goes both ways: Sixty-eight years ago when my eldest cousin was born four years before I was, our grandmother was only 36 years old. She refused to be called Grandma, insisted on being called "Mimi" instead, which is what all nine of us grandkids called her always, and to this day when we refer to her. That is what Mimi herself told me, years ago.

My own gkids, the eldest of whom is eight, call us a variety of things, from Gramma and Grampa (spelled Grandma and Grandpa), to Mom and Papa, to Gramma Sherry and Papa Hub, to Gramma and Grampa Lastname. It's how they differentiate between Hub and me and their other sets of grandparents, and that's what they think our names are. As it happens, our gkids are the oldest gkids on both sides of their families, so it is not that they are calling us what their older cousins call us, as my cousins and I did with our Mimi. The two-year-old has taken to calling me "Sherry" lately, though no one else does. Even when they are all together, which they frequently are, they call us and refer to us by the names they are used to calling us, probably names suggested by their parents, and nobody every gets confused. Even Hub and I refer to each other by the names used by each particular grandchild.

If you insist upon a particular name for yourself, you'll get it. Otherwise, it will take care of itself. Most of all, I know you'll enjoy those kids, whatever they call you. My newest was born only two days ago, and she is perfectly wonderful already!

I had an aunt whose grandkids called her grandma grapes because she kept a bowl of wax fruit on the DR table. It was long ago.

Never can tell what will stick.

How about HEY YOU? lol

DH and I are Grandma and Grandpa and DGS's third-generation Polish-American grandparents (who are VERY into their heirtage) are Busha and Ja-Ja.

Our DS called each of his grandmothers Grandma (Given Name).

Susan, when I was a child my grandfather called me Zuzu; that would be a nice 'Grandma' name for you. (I don't *think* you'd need to learn to dance the can-can.)

I could really go for Zuzu--serious!! Also, when I was in my 20s a good friend (from the south) used to call me Susu. That would do it, too.

Thanks, everyone, for all these good suggestions!

alisande - my friends children call their grandma Susu. Her name is Susan, too. I like it.

My GKids call DH Grandbobby. His name is Bobby. The oldest said that and it just stuck with the younger ones.

I'm going to be the damper on this post. Please, just be happy that you HAVE grandchildren. Don't obsess over what they are going to call you. Just love them and be glad you have them.

Mine call me NaNa and DH is PaPa..I have noticed our teenager has updated PaPa to Grandpa, but I am still NaNa!

Wantoretire, I don't know what inspired your post, but trust me--you don't have to beg me to be happy about my grandchildren. Nor is there a need for you to tell me to love them. I am a Walton at heart; I'd be thrilled if I had a huge family spilling out of my big old farmhouse. My mother gave birth to me, then lost two pregnancies and died young. I had a history of infertility before my children were born, and although I wished I could have had more, I was thrilled to have three.

When I was younger I naively thought each of my children would have three, like I did. So I figured one day I'd have nine grandchildren. (Like I said, naive.) But if I've learned anything in this life, it is that we can't predict the future. My first daughter had a baby, but can't have any more. My second daughter died. My son is my youngest, and just had his first child at 32. I don't know anyone who values their children and grandchildren more than I.

I thought this could be a rather lighthearted topic for the KT. I just read over my posts. Everyone of them has a smiley face or an LOL. If you really think I'm obsessing over what my grandson will call me, I guess I'm not as good a writer as I thought I was. But next time you get an urge to put a damper on a thread, I hope you'll put a damper on the urge instead.

When my sister and I met our grandmother, we were about 5 and 7 yrs old. We asked her how wanted to be addressed, and she replied, please call me Becky. Her given names were Anna Rebecca and she had been called in her immediate family, "Becky", and that is what she asked my sister and me to use. She chose the middle ground and the familar.

When we addressed her in formal fashion such as before an audience, we used, "Grandmother Rebecca". She never used her first name except on a few legal documents. She reported "Becky" on federal censuses.

I agree, the preferred nomenclature is between the two persons with grandmother choosing her title. It's simple: Ask her.

I didn't particularly want to be Grandma because that's was my mother and mother-in-law - but my son referred to me as Grandma(because that was what he called his) and so my grands call me that -I tried to change it but it didn't work. My DH on the other hand started out as Pop-Pop and is now some variation of that.

What an interesting topic and I've enjoyed reading all the responses....especially since I'm not a Grandmother yet, heck I'm not even a Mother in Law. But I am looking forward to the day when that might happen and I've occasionally wondered what I might be called.

Susan -
Has the other grandmother expressed an interest in what she might be called?

Maire, yes--she wants to be Grandma. This is her first grandchild, and she's 48--the same age I was when I had my first grandchild. She has five children, and the youngest are still in elementary school.

My daughter's stepdaughters, BTW, call me Susie. They came up with that on their own, but that's what my parents and DH used to call me. Nobody does now except for the two girls (9 and 11).

You can't predict what life will bring you. I was an only child and never wanted to have one child. I had two and was hoping each would have two at least or more. Didn't happen and never will. DD had fertility problems and we're lucky to have her son after expensive treatments. Son got divorced when granddaughter wasn't even two , and never remarried. It is what it is.

I apologize Susan. My remark wasn't directed to you personally. I probably should not have even read the posts, not having any grandkids myself and never will. Sometimes, that overtakes me.......

Thank you, Wantoretire. I'm sorry for the circumstance that prompted your post. I can understand why it might overtake you sometimes.

You are welcome to use Zuzu, or SuSu, but now that I know your step-grands call you Susie...I suspect you'll be Susie to Joseph too! (How is that dear little guy?)

Thanks, Chisue! The dear little guy was here yesterday, looking as sweet and beautiful as ever. He'll be two weeks old tomorrow. He nurses well and goes through the usual amount of diapers, but the pediatrics office says he's not gaining enough weight to satisfy them. I hope they don't ask my DIL to give him formula. This is what happened with my first baby, and of course supplementing reduced my milk supply, so the breastfeeding didn't last long after that. Both my daughters were very low on the weight charts, resulting in frequent conflict with the pediatricians. Both girls grew up healthy and small--just like my stepdaughters, whose body types they shared. The weight charts don't seem to allow for much individuality, and when the doctor wrote Failure to Thrive on my healthy, active second daughter's chart, I was seriously angry. My son was high on the weight charts, so I didn't have any more battles with the doctors. Not about that, anyway. LOL

Being a grandma, I love your post.. We are called Mamaw and Papaw. Our daughter's in-laws are Grammy and Grampy.. The main thing is we love them and they love us.. Enjoy your grandson no matter what he calls you..

I call my grandma Mimi. :) I'm 28 and I still do!

Since I made my previous post I have read all the posts and given this entire topic considerable thought, and it comes to me,,,What your grandchild calls you is in fact a personal term of endearment between the child and you, and it don't matter a hill of beans whether the parents, neighbors or anyone else approves, so long as you and the child are in agreement.

If others don't like it, then I guess they will have to just file that as one more of lifes little problems and move on.