One of my daughters-in-law is finally about to make my spouse and I grandparents for the first time this October. We (my spouse and I) are putting a baby shower on for her this Saturday, and have been putting a lot of effort into getting ready over the past several weeks. Tomorrow is a day for some final prep work, including finalizing some of the food, and then hopefully relax until Friday evening.
Friday we can get in to the venue to set up tables and decorations after 5PM, and then back Saturday around 10AM to finish up before everyone shows up for the shower. We are about $1500 invested in this so far, and it would be a lot higher if it weren’t for a lot of my spouse’s sisters chipping in with deserts, etc. Sometimes her being one of fifteen siblings is a definite advantage, lol. I am still trying to figure out why we are spending what we are, but my spouse and my daughter-in-law are having fun, so I just keep my mouth shut.
Anyway……. Here is we’re I need some advice. Everyone is after me as to what I want to be called when the baby is born. My spouse is looking at several things, like “Grandma” or maybe “Nona” or “Nanna”. It has been suggested that I use “Oma” as German is my second language and I have a habit of slipping into it occasionally. There is also “Mhamo’” or “Seanmhair” as my family heritage is Scottish Gaelic and both of those were commonly used in my extended family.
So, suggestions????
Comments
I'd Go
For Granny. Very common but easy for a baby to say. I would love to be called 'Granny'!
The answer is whichever you like!
Oma
If you are going for “easy for a baby to say”, then nothing beats the German “Oma”! Because it is just to vowels and one very easy consonant.
The “R” consonant is one of the most difficult sounds to produce for a baby.
The “ma” syllable is usually one of the first words a baby learns to pronounce consciously. Especially since “mama” is usually the primary caregiver of a baby. The second easiest is “pa” and “papa” or “Opa”.
In German “Mama” is the familiar word for mother. In Spanish “mamá” is the word for mother, and “mama” refers to a breast [that is lactating].
Okay
I was about to respond something to the effect that, "You probably wouldn't care for `Granny'," but then I saw this.
-- Daphne Xu
When it comes down to it
It really boils down to what you're comfortable with. Kids are smarter than most give them credit for. When my oldest daughter was in womb my in-laws were in a tither about what she would call my mother-in-law because my wife's grandmother live across the street from them. Everybody, including me, called her "Grandma" pronounced Gramma.
My mother-in-law suggested Nona or Nana. I informed then that my kids would learn to say Grandma and Great-Grandma and to know the difference.
Now there was a grandfather alive on both sides of the family so we adopted the convention that it seems everyone follows with aunts and uncles. It was Grandpa Bert and Grandpa Jim. I'd like to say it was an original idea, but it was pioneered by my oldest sister and was used by my brother and my other sister before me.
So I guess my suggestion would be Grandma Dallas.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin ein femininer Mann
My afvice
Don’t over think it. It will, should be whatever the child settles on which could be several years down the line. My parents were Nanny and Gramps to number one daughter, Grandson has Granny x and Grandad y.
Different people will use different terms, not always consistently. As for using Scottish Gaelic - bit disingenuous if you don’t speak it, I doubt most Scots would recognise the terms let alone anyone in a land where most struggle with any coherent speech! Likewise the German, I’d use Oma/Opa talking to a German speaker or if you were actually German (or other native German speaker)
It’ll be what it’ll be.
And congratulations, grandchildren are a delight, all the fun but you can give them back at the end of the day! I’d long given up hoping for a next generation when my daughter announced one was on the way. Stuff happens but you’ll have someone to impart advice to and tell tall tales.
Madeline Anafrid Bell
Congratulations!
Such good news! I’m guessing you will be so overjoyed to have a grandchild that you won’t even care what they call you! That said, I’m in the “go with what you like” camp. Personally, I like the sound of “Oma.” Short, easy to say, and it sounds both wise and dignified. :)
— Emma
Identifying relatives
Growing up in an isolated “German” community, the common convention was that adult lateral relatives were generally uncle/aunt (Onkel/Tante) and first name. And this convention was usually maintained into adulthood for the siblings of parents and grandparents.
The grandparents were usually Oma/Opa and the family name (or surname), while great-grandparents were Uroma/Uropa. And each further generation would prepend another “Ur-”, similar to the English “great-”.
Though some families might come up with other distinctions. The children of one of my mom's aunts used “big granny” and “small granny”, though that was rather confusing outside the nuclear family.
In German the terms “Mama”, “Mami” and “Mutti” (mom, mommy, mummy) are generally considered the familiar or informal form, while “Mutter” (mother) is the more formal designation. Similarly, “Oma” is the familiar form while “Großmutter” is the formal form, like granny and grandma versus grandmother in English.
suggestions???
Als ich klein war, nannte ich meine Großmutter mütterlicherseits „Gram“. Ich blieb dabei und meine beiden nachfolgenden Geschwister übernahmen diesen Namen ebenfalls. Ich würde daher „Gram“ oder eine familiäre Ehrenbezeichnung aus einem der Länder Ihrer Herkunft vorschlagen.
POOKA
Grandmama
From a certain TV show.