Today I officially begin a new chapter in my life. I've been a student, a wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, an employee, a cancer survivor and now ... a grandmother. Six weeks ago my son and his wife brought a beautiful baby girl named Jane into the world, into our family, and into our hearts. Today I am on Day 1 of 'grandma duty'. I took a week's vacation to come and stay with the family and watch over little Jane while her mom went back to her job as a teacher today. She has students who depend on her, but I know her heart was home here with Jane. Jane and I are doing just fine and will be glad to see them when they get home. Although I was given strict instruction that if she conquered any milestones while they were gone to not tell them.
With my new found grandparenthood has come 2 major comments/questions from the people I see. I've either been told I look too young to be a grandma; which could be highly flattering. The other question is 'What do you want to be called?' That one threw me off balance at first, because my first response has always been 'Call me GRANDMA'. I guess I just didn't realize that there were so many choices; there's actually a website with 120 top grandparent nicknames. We could go with Grammy, Gram, Nana, Mee-maa, G-ma, Mimsy, Nanny, or Oma. But let's not leave the men out of the equation, they have options too; Gramps, Grandad, Papa, Grandpapy, and Pop.
Whatever Jane decides to call me when the time comes will be music to my ears, but the traditional 'Grandma' suits me just fine. I consider it to be a badge of honor; a badge that I will proudly wear.
What did you call your grandparents when you were growing up and why? I remember my kids refer to my mom as 'Grandma with the piano'.
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