Let's talk Grandmas! Okay!

All of this talk of elderly females got me thinking about grandmas.

I had two, which I believe is considered the norm. They are dead now.

My siblings and I used our grandparents' last names, so they were Grandma Mariano and Grandma Bradley. It still sounds weird to me when people call their grandparents by their first names, or even weirder, use some adorable made-up moniker, like Pop-ola or Grummsy. As if grandparents are figures of affection and warmth, and not forbidding matri-/patriarchs under whose shadow you must cower and throw offerings.

Actually Grandma Mariano was, by all accounts, the (much, much) less forbidding and stern of the two grandmothers, but she died when I was eight, so my memories of her are murky.

Wasn't she lovely? (That's my mom on the right.) I have many pictures of her, and she's gorgeous in all of them. ( have no pictures of Grandma Bradley, strangely. Although she didn't cast a reflection, so maybe that's why? And every time we tried to capture her image our camera burst into flames? I have to look into that.)

My most vivid memory of Grandma Mariano is sitting in the passenger seat of her car as she drove the wrong way down the one-way exit/entrance to my sister's high school. I remember a lot of people shouting and running out of the way. She seemed unconcerned.

I am told she did that sort of thing quite a bit.

I have also been told that instead of using the phrase, "I'll treat you," or "it's on me," she would say, "I'll blow you." Now, apparently this was some sort of vernacular in her day (I HOPE), but not the sort of thing you want to hear out of your grandma's mouth. My sister still talks about how mortifying it was to have her grandma utter the words "Let's go out for ice cream! I'll blow you!" in front of a whole bunch of teenagers who had wandered outside to see who had driven the wrong way into the parking lot and caused all the ensuing chaos.

Oh, how I wish I could remember that part.

Comments

[UK lass in US]

I always stuck with geographical location (eg. nanny-in-the-forest). I asked my mum just a few weeks back why I felt the need to distinguish her location, considering that I only had one grandma that was still alive...

Meanwhile, my husband had my kids calling his grandma "grandma afro". It suited her - she was one of those 90 year olds that goes around flipping people off and she did have big hair.

[MaryB]

Ever wonder which of our current innocuous words or phrases will be turned into something "blue" by the time we are geezers?

[Kendra]

It's funny, although none of my grandparents were terrifying, they weren't exactly warm and fuzzy. We called them by their last names, and that was the kind of relationship we had.

Now my father-in-law lives with us, and he's "Papa" to the kids. (My dad, who they don't see as often or know as well, is "Mustache Papa.") And I see the way they are with him, and it melts my heart. They wander into his room and climb up on his lap and request chocolate--I would never have done any of those things. It's neat to see them have the relationship with him that I kind of wish I could have had with my grandparents.

[Kate]

My mother's mother was always just "Grandma", though apparently my siblings and I are the only ones who don't call her "Grandma Lucille." I think maybe it was because first names were forbidden in my household for most adults (sans uncles and aunts), so my parents just stuck with "Grandma"? I am unsure.

My father's mother was my Grammy Allison, Allison being her last name. It always confused me as a child because I was convinced her first name was Allison when it was not. I do not know why we used this name for her, but I suspect my mother's nefarious ways were at work.

My Grammy Allison was the stern of the two and passed away this last May, but my Grandma [Lucille] is still kicking. She's a bit senile and extremely hard of hearing, which can be excruciatingly frustrating. She once came to a family Christmas party and left two thirds of the gifts at her house. I was sent to pick them up, but it was like a trasure hunt. Two behind the door in the spare bedroom. One in the kitchen. Three upstairs in the closet that time forgot! She's a funny old lady.

I do not worry about her dying, but mostly because my mother is her doppleganger and will just take over her place as terrifying family matriarch when she does die. She's got the schtick down pat already.

[Mimi]

I loved reading all of these comments. I am a BOOMER Grandparent, and I started out as "grammy" (I just liked the sound) and Quinn, my 1st granddaughter shortened it to "Mimi" when she started talking. I LOVED it and its stuck after one more granddaughter. I think the changes in grandparent monikers has to do with all the blended families. Some kids have as many as 8 or more grandparents. My husband wanted his stepdaughters children to call him SuperG! Go figure...

[Pat Fehlker]

The comments on this site are making me laugh..finally. It has been a really tough winter and my friend who is a grandma..clued me into this site.My grandaughter, who is 6 now, named me "GaGa"!!! I knew it meant crazy...and I just loved it. Her other grandparents already had all the names taken since they were already grandparents.My husband gave up his name.."guy". He did not really like being called guy..so now he is grandpa.Who knew there would be a famous "Lady Gaga"! I was there first!

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