There are so many terms for grandparents, and they vary from region to region. In many Asian families, different names are used for paternal and maternal grandparents, which can be confusing as cousins calling their grandparents different names depending upon which side of the family they are from.
Since both my parents are from Taiwan, I call my maternal grandparents po-po (grandmother) and gong-gong (grandfather) and my paternal grandparents ama (grandmother) and a-gong (grandfather). When M was born we knew immediately that he would call my parents ama (grandmother) and a-gong (grandfather). I love hearing M say a-gong and ama.
With Mr. Ice Cream’s parents the decision of what to be called was not as straightforward. Mr. Ice Cream calls his maternal grandparents Nanny and Grandpa and he called his paternal grandparents Grammy and Pops. While Mr. Ice Cream’s dad decided early on that he wanted to be called “Pops” like his dad, there was a time where other options were thrown around. My favorite was “mobo” for “motherboard” (Mr. Ice Cream gets his geekiness from his dad!). Whether that was a serious contender or not is still up for debate (but secretly it had my vote!). Mr. Ice Cream’s mom had a harder time deciding but after a lot of brainstorming eventually decided on “Bebe.” Now I can’t imagine M calling her anything else.
Some days Mr. Ice Cream and I are envious of our friends with little kids who have their parents just down the road. Yes, mainly for the free babysitting, but also because it is so special seeing the bond form between your little one and your parents. Luckily, my parents are only a few hours away in North Carolina and Mr. Ice Cream’s parents make it a point to visit every couple weeks. When Mr. Ice Cream’s parents aren’t here, we do our best to Facetime as often as possible. Now when M hears the Facetime ringtone his head pops up and he says “Pops Bebe.” The other day when we were Facetiming with Pops and Bebe, M got a glimpse of a Thomas the tank engine scooter (Hanukkah gift) in the background. As soon as the call ended, M took Mr. Ice Cream’s hand and led him to the door and said “Pops Bebe house.”
Seeing the connection and love that M has for his grandparents is one of the most touching things I’ve experienced. I’m so thankful for their strong presence in his life and I can’t wait to spend the holidays visiting North Carolina and Chicago.
What do your little ones call their grandparents? And are your little ones close with their grandparents?
blogger / kiwi / 588 posts
My partner and I are both Filipino so our parents get called Lola (grandma) and Lolo (grandpa). We add on their first name if we need to distinguish them from each other.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
I love the different names for grandparents! We’re pure American and go with Grammie and Grampy, Gram and Gramps. My parents live close enough to be close with our daughter – 2.5 hours away. But then things come up that they can’t be there for and she is practically devastated (like her school performance on Thursday).
cherry / 226 posts
My babies paternal grandparents have passed away. We refer to them as Lola and Papa, even though my children have never met them. My parents are Grandma, or Tutu, and also Papa. My children are not too close with them. We live close but lives are very busy, so they see them maybe once a month and I guess since I haven’t been close to my parents growing up, it’s continued, sadly.
pomegranate / 3032 posts
My in laws picked Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop when my niece was born. My dad wanted to be called Poppy and my mom is now known as Gwanma Sushi (her name is Susan/Susie) I kinda love it when kids pick the names for them. when i was little I called my great grand mother “Big Grandma” and my cousin called her grandmas “Orange Grandma” and “Black Grandma” based on their hair color.
pomegranate / 3401 posts
I’m Taiwanese and my husband is white. My mom is Nai-Nai and my in-laws are Grandma and Grandpa! My mom will come baby sit and stay overnight with my girls and it’s so special! They have a blast together. And my in-laws always make it a point to take my older daughter for a couple of days and do fun things like the zoo or legoland (they got her memberships to both and we live like 2 hours away from them!) As my younger daughter gets older they will take her two. I love how my girls have three lovely grandparents to dote on them.
persimmon / 1445 posts
My parents are Winnie and Papa- my dad picked his own name because we all used to call his dad Papa and Winnie is a nickname from my mom’s name Lynn. DH’s parents are Grandma and Grandpa.
Both sets are about an hour away- we see everyone regularly but my parents more often since I am a SAHM and I tend to go hang out with them just because I enjoy their company as friends.
grapefruit / 4085 posts
I asked my mom if she wanted to be called Nonna (Italian) but she said grandma was fine. M calls her GG and my MIL is grandma. She calls my dad papa. My parents are about an hr away but we see them at least once a week and my MIL is 20 min away and she sees them every 1-2 weeks.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
We will see what LO ends up saying, but so far we have a Pops, Poppy, Gigi, Nana, and a Mimi.
guest
My parents are Nonni, Grandpa, Poppy and Mumsy! They all live 3-5 hours away so we see them every few months in person. But we talk about them all the time, speak on the phone and via Facetime so my 3 yo is smitten with all of them. Bringing them into our conversations about family has really fostered a strong connection.
guest
My in-laws go by Bebe and Popsio. My parents go by Grandma and Grandpa. It’s so interesting what people decide to go by!
blogger / apricot / 250 posts
Thank you all for your comments! It is so interesting to see what people call their grandparents!
kiwi / 595 posts
My daughter picked out names for her grandparents, they didn’t pick their names. I prefer that the child decides the names.