Paternal grandparents were Grandpa and Grandma (rose) if needed.
I do have an interesting story. The paternal Granparents were divorced and both had remarried. On a subsequent christmas My siblings and I had gotten presents for all of them. In order to tell them apart and not have to write grandpa <name> on every tag, I came up with the bright idea to number them. (I know, I’m a geek). So, I thought it would be fairer to number them based on maleness, femaleness, and blood. so:
Hmm, One of my sets was “green” grandma and grandpa, and the other set was “blue” grandma and grandpa. My older brother named them and I don’t remember exactly why that’s what they were called, but I think it had something to do with the colored house they lived in. And it’s been so long I can’t remember which is which anymore.
My cousins call their maternal grandparents ‘Grandma and Grumpy’!
(And my Uncle calls them, (his parents in law) ‘The Outlaws’. Which I’ve always thought pretty funny - although as I write it here, maybe not that funny at all).
My maternal great grandparents were always referred to as ‘Nana and Little Grandan’ for reasons I have no clue about. My maternal grandparents are simply ‘Granny and Grandad’
Dad’s side, Grandma and Grandpa
Mom’s side, Tutu and Grandfather (Tutu is the Hawian word for grandmother)
Now through confusion comes history…
My ex and I argued over what my kids should call my father. I wanted them to call him grandpa, she wanted them to call him Papa. (what she always called her grandparents). We were leaving the kids with them for 3 days. I kept saying “You’re gonna stay with Grandpa and Tutu”, my ex, “You’re gonna stay with Papa and Tutu”
When we picked the up, they were now dubbed “Grandpa and Papatutu”
Maternal: Grandma (instertlastname), Grandpa (insertlastname). I’m the oldest on this side of the family, and I think everybody else calls her Maw-Maw (insertlastname). My brother and I just call her grandma though.
Paternal: Grandma (insertlastname), this grandpa died WAY before I was born.
Anyway, my other grandpa is dead now too. BUT, I always just call them “Grandma” when I’m talking to them. It’s when I’m talking to somebody else that I use the last name.
My husband used Grandma Mary and Grandma Ellen instead of last names. BUT, he too just calls them “Grandma” when he talks to them.
My little nephew calls his grandpa (my father in law) paw paw. I think it’s adorable. And so far he calls his grandma (my mother-in-law) nanya. He can’t quite get his mouth around “grandma” yet. It’s really sweet.
Maternal Grandmother: Little Grandma
Maternal Grandfather: Grandpa {Firstname}
Paternal Grandmother: Big Grandma
Paternal Grandfather: Grandpa {Firstname}
And yes, one grandmother was fat and one thin. It sounds so cruel now, but they didn’t ever have seem to mind…and by the time we realized that the names were kinda mean, we’d been calling them that for years. I still call my Dad’s mom Big Grandma, but my other grandmother has just become Grandma.
Mom’s mom. My oldest sibling got confused between mother and grandmother. So he said Mugga.
Now for the weird part. My son calls my Mom and Dad Nana and Papa, My nephews and neice had already claimed naming rights by the time Riley rolled around. But for some odd reason, he decided to call my wife’s mother Mugga. Mugga had left this world a good fifteen years before Riley was around. I never told him her name.
My mother’s parents: Then and now, Gramma and Grampa.
My father’s parents: When I was a kid, they were Honey and Papa. I don’t know where “Honey” came from; she’s the Chicana who made me the mutt I am today. Now, though, we call her by her actual first name (on the rare occasions we see her), whereas Papa has vanished into the wilds of California, never to be heard from again — so we don’t call him anything.
Our family was easy: Gramma Edna and Grampa Bob, Gramma Irene and Grampa George. But Irene and George were both remarried by the time I came along. For some reason George’s wife was Gramma Marilyn, but Irene’s husband was just Pasquale. I guess it’s because “Grampa Pasquale” is impossible to say.
That whole side of the family lives in California, so we rarely see them, which is sad. (We used to see Gramma Edna and Grampa Bob more often, but they’ve since died.)
One side’s normal enough.
Paternal grandparents: Grammie and Grandpa
On my maternal side however, it’s a little stranger.
My mom’s mom was only 43 when her oldest grandchild (me) was born, and she refused to be a “Grandma.” So there was a family gathering where “Neat” was decided upon. Her first name is Juanita, which she loathes. So she goes by Claire, her middle name. Of course, the kids couldn’t call her by the same name adults called her, too disrespectful. So the fam shortened Juanita to Neat. I used to get some pretty weird looks in school when I talked about her. “I’m going to stay over at my Neat’s house this weekend.” :rolleyes:
Anyways, her husband, my stepgrandfather is a Frenchman named Jean. Once again, he was too young to be Grandpa (38) and Jean was disrespectful. What’d the family come up with? Jean Jean (pronounced zhan zhan, easy on the n’s)
Maternal grandmother and husband: Neat and Jean Jean
And, lucky me, because of remarriages I got more than the usual two sets.
Maternal grandfather and wife: Granpa Mike and Sheri
maternal : Mammie and PopPop
Paternal: MaMa and Grandaddy
Step grandmother-Grandma (last name)
my mom and dad are called RiRi (her name is Maria) and Grampy by the grandkids. My niece calls her maternal great grandmother Old Grandma and her maternal g-mother Young Grandma.
Paternal: Grandpa and Grandma.
Maternal: Graddad[dy] and Grandma.
Grandma [last name], if necessary to make the distinction.
Not all that weird, really.
But if, once in a while, someone tried to call one of my grandfathers by the “wrong” name (e.g. “Grandpa” for my maternal grandfather), it sounded jarringly wrong to me.
