Same thing in my family. My maternal grandmother was always Grandmother, and my mom hasmade it crystal clear that’s what she wants to be called. It may sound a touch cold, but I agree with her that it has more dignity than Meemaw or Nunu. (No offense to anyone beloved Nunus or Meemaws out there.)
This is how it worked in our family, too. My mom’s mom was Grandmother. My grandfather on my mom’s side, though, was Grandaddy or Grandfather Lastname.
On my dad’s side, it was Grandmother Firstname and Grandfather Firstname.
My mom’s mom thought it was insulting and improper to call her grandma or granny and said it made her feel old. I don’t think any of our other grandparents cared, but we just defaulted to however our parents referred to them when talking to us about them.
My son calls my mom Nanima. When he couldn’t speak as clearly, it was Neema.
My father’s parents were Grandmother and Granddad or Grandfather to me. My grandmother actually prefers to be called “Nanny,” but I find that too odd, so I stick with Grandmother. One time, just to mess with her, my sister called her “Grandma” and she got really pissed off.
Her thought process was that “Grandma” sounded older so she didn’t want that used. I personally feel that the opposite is true.
My mom’s parents were always Grandma and Grandpa.
Oh, and my grandmother is from Oklahoma if that matters.
Sorry to be the language Nazi here, but your name is spelled wrong. *Fenestra *means window, so a *defenestrator *is someone who throws people out of windows. Note the lack of an “i”.
Valete,
Vox Imperatoris
I thought I’d add this. I talked to Gramma today and told her about this thread and what I said about what would happen if I called her Granny. She agreed I’d at least better duck, that she could take me and she may or may not be carrying a shiv. God I love that woman.
shrug I called both of them Oma <lastname> and Opa <lastname>. Never occurred to me to try to call them differently, probably because they would be horribly… taken aback by the breach of manners. (the polite version of taking a shiv to me. :D)
I like your Gramma, Auntbeast.
For the set of grandparents that I knew, it was Grandmother and Granddaddy. I had originally hoped that that was what my grandchildren would call me. But I ended up being Grammy.
One time one of my grandchildren called me Grandmother. She didn’t know how sad and sweet it seemed to me.
My mom’s mom, a Wyoming/Colorado lady, had a nickname that everyone called her, no matter which relative. Interestingly, when I had my own kids, my mom just asked them to call her by her nickname, which she’d had since childhood.
My dad’s mom, a WASP from the Eastern seaboard, born at the turn of the century, made it clear that she was to be called Grandmother.
If I ever get to have grandchildren, I’d be fine with Grandma.