The Name Game

Grandma, Pop-Pop, Nana, Granddad. Grandi??? There's a whole little red wagon full of names that grandchildren can call their grandparents and step-grandparents. Remember "Gramps" in the old "Lassie" television show? Shirley Temple used the very proper "Grandfather" in her role as "Heidi". Those "Beverly Hillbillies had "Granny", and the grandfather on "My Three Sons" was "Bub". Whatever name your little ones call you, it should make you smile, because those little voices are talking to only YOU.

In the standard two-grandmother or two-grandfather families, usually the most traditional names are already taken. What happens if you are the third grandparent in the mix? Well, if you do happen to be that lucky, you shoud have the privilege of choosing your own unique name. In our family, the two grandmothers are called Grandmom and Mom-Mom. I'm the step-grandmother. My name is Diane and I chose to be called "Grandi". My two little step-grandsons have always called me by that name and it is music to my ears!

My older step-grandson, Graham, and I were playing a game that involved taking turns connecting pairs of dots to make lines, which in turn made squares. When a player succeeded in closing a square, it was "his" or "hers" and they identified it by putting their initial in the box. Graham said that since he and I both had the same first letter in our names, one of us would have to use a different letter. I was confused. I told him that my name started with a "D". He gave me a curious look, and said, "It's a 'G', Grandi!" Even I had forgotten my own name!

Some families have a tradiiton of carrying on a special grandparent title from generation to generation. There are many "Great-Grans" and "Nanas" in the world. The Nana title may have been used by someone several generations ago, and if that dear person is no longer with the family, their title can be bestowed on a younger version, so that it may be carried on.

These are the names that will be painstakingly scrawled in crayon on cards and pages torn from coloring books. These little children will take the time to learn how to spell your name, and they will call you by that name for the rest of your life. Choose it wisely. You didn't get to pick your real first name; your parents gave you that. More than likely, there have been times in your life when you hated that name and hated them for giving it to you. Now you finally get to pick a name for yourself. And it will be reserved for use by only the most special little people in your life!

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