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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to ask what grandparent names you use (in light of frustrating lunchtime experience)

228 replies

5Foot5 · 06/12/2011 13:46

So what happened was, among the 17 or so other jobs I was trying to squeeze in to my lunch hour, I had to buy two "Grandma and Grandad" cards for DD to send. Yes she would normally take care of this herself and will no doubt pay me back for them, but she is at school all day and there is a particular urgency for one of the cards. It needs posting soon and we want to put it inside our card to save on stamps.

Anyway I found the relevant section only to be confronted by a plethora of cards to "Nan and Grandad" or "Nanna and Grandad". I scanned the rack in growing frustration but the only "Grandma and Grandad" I could find was a large letter size so would have to be posted separately, which would cost nearly as much as the card itself. (Well I was in Card Factory)

At last, when I was about to give up in despair I found just one card of the right size for people with Grandmas not Nans or Nannas. So with at least a dozen choices for this Nanna person there was only one large and one small design for Grandma.

Now this I find hard to understand. I don't know anyone who has a Nanna. Seriously, among all my family, friends and acquaintances I can't think of one whose children say Nan or Nanna.

This being the case why would the shop have so many cards for her? I suppose one answer might be that there are hardly any Nannas only Grandmas so they have sold out of Grandma and are stuck with a lot of Nanna left on the shelf. But surely these shops aren't stupid and would stock what they have a market for?

So, in my long-winded way, I thought I would ask on here what names you all use for the grandparents so that I could tell whether IABU or Card Factory are. That's it really.

OP posts:
Raahh · 06/12/2011 14:16

OP, I too went to Card Factory- and found the same thing. I have a gran, the children have 4 grannys - Granny Granny (my mum) Granny B (my dad's partner), Other Granny (my gran) and Granny M- dh's mum. My dad is Grandpa, my mum's partner Grandad.

I stock up on 'Granny/Gran/Grandpa' birthday/Christmas cards on the rare occasion I see them- can't abide Nana/Nanny.

seeker · 06/12/2011 14:16

Sorry - but it's a class thing again. I would explain, but then everyone on mumsnet would hate me.

spiderlight · 06/12/2011 14:17

I had a Nanna. DS has a Tadcu (Welsh for Grandad) and a Grandma and Pops. All their choice. If my mum was still here she'd no doubt have been Mamgu.

NadiaWadia · 06/12/2011 14:17

My DCs have Grandma and Grandpa. Nanny sounds a bit odd to me, as a nanny is like Mary Poppins?

When my time comes, I would prefer to be a Granny. It's much the poshest, don't you know.

SummerRain · 06/12/2011 14:17

My parents are Opa and Granny (my dad is dutch)

DP's parents are Nanny and Grandad

Try buying cards for those combinations Hmm

mrsruffallo · 06/12/2011 14:17

Arthur and Zelda, but that's how my parents are. My grandchildren willcall me Nan.

MincePieFlavouredVoidka · 06/12/2011 14:18

We have 2 Nana's, however we live in a different part of the country and I struggle to find Nana cards - there are loads of Nanna cards though.

SantasSnowilocks · 06/12/2011 14:18

My kids have Granny and Grandpa, a Granddad and a Mutti (she didn't want to be Grandma as that was what her children called her mum, who died when i was pg with her first grandchild, Nan was her grandma and she thought granny sounded too old) i think it's German for mother.

My grandparents were Granny and Granfer, and Grandma and Grandpa

NotJustForClassic · 06/12/2011 14:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SmethwickBelle · 06/12/2011 14:19

My boys have a Nan and Grandpa and a Granny and Grandad

So one of each!

I had Nanas Grin.

donteatyourteawithnoknickerson · 06/12/2011 14:19

I had a gran and a penguin gran (so named because she always bought us penguin biscuits)

MIL & FIL are nana and grandad; mum & dad are gran and grandad. Gets confusing round here sometimes....

cakeoclock · 06/12/2011 14:19

I had a nan and grandad and a grandma and grandad. DCs have a nan and grandad and grandma and grandad.

As I child we could never find nan cards we had to buy nanna and cross out the na.

Nans are always more fun than Grandmas. Grandmas bake and go grey. Nans dye their hair act young and buy their cakes from marks and sparks.

aStarOverMangerways · 06/12/2011 14:19

DS has:

the ILs - Grandma and Grandpa (this is what they were already called by older grandchildren, so was a given)
my dad and stepmum - Grandad (fine) and Nanny (yuck) - their choice
my nanna - Nanna

Nanna is East End working class, and a fabulous inspiring woman. My mum's parents (Granny and Grandad to me) were also as working class as you can get, but aspired not to be.

moogalicious · 06/12/2011 14:20

We use 'Nan' - but we're common plus my nan said 'granny' made her sound old (she was 42 when I was born). We call the dc's great-grandmother 'nan-nan' - no cards at all with that on!

PeppaPigHostage · 06/12/2011 14:20

I had a Grandma and Grandad and a Nain and Taid, could never find cards for Nain and Taid, even in Wales. I used to buy plain cards for them instead.

SmethwickBelle · 06/12/2011 14:21

In response to seeker the relative who is "Nan" is poshest (not Hyacinth Bucket posh either).

Kladdkaka · 06/12/2011 14:23

My daughter has a Nanny (my mum), a Nanna (her paternal grandmother), a Nan (husband's mother) and a Dragon (my nan).;o

MrsCarriePooter · 06/12/2011 14:23

My ILs are Grandma and Grandad and my mum is Granny (exactly the same combo as I had as a child, except I had a Poppa as well - which would have been a bugger for cards).

I never dreamed that Granny was so uncommon these days until I started trying to buy cards for the DC to scribble in! All I can say is thank goodness she didn't choose - as she was at one stage thinking - to go with the Grannie spelling.

FancyForgetting · 06/12/2011 14:24

DD got a Grandma and Grandad card from M&S on which she can record a message - they had 'normal' ones too Xmas Grin

Can't find a Granny and Grandpa one mind you.

FreudianSlipper · 06/12/2011 14:24

ds has a Nana (my mum), Granny, Granddad and a Granddaddy (my dad) and a Nannytheirname (my aunt)

they all made the decision themselves (apart form my aunt, ds heard others calling her nanny so he joined in and added her name which she loves)

NewBikeForChristmas · 06/12/2011 14:24

My DC have Grandma and Grandad and Granny and Grandpa (although Grandpa died 18 years ago, so he is only theoretical but we talk about him).

boschy · 06/12/2011 14:28

My DC have Granny and Grandad (DH's parents) and Grandma (my mum). My grandparents were Grandmother and Grandfather (for heaven's sake!) and Granny and Granpa.

DH's parents wanted FIL to be known as Pops. This is not something I would EVER allow as I think it is very naff (I'm sure it's lovely if that's what you and your children have chosen but MIL was pushing it hard on me and I stuck my toes in! - as she responded to the announcement that DD1 was on the way with the immortal words "I hope you dont expect us to babysit" I was buggered if she was having a say in what FIL should be called.)

montmartre · 06/12/2011 14:29

My DCs have a Nana, because she is italian.

LadyWellian · 06/12/2011 14:29

My parents (Grandma and Granddad to all their GCs) would never expect a card that said Grandma and Granddad on it.

DH's parents (Gran or Granny and Grandpa; our DD is their only GC) wouldn't mind, but I probably wouldn't buy one in the first place.

My parents had GCs first and chose their own names. DH has always argued they are illogical and it should be Granny and Grandad and Grandma and Grandpa. But he only ever had one grandparent and he called her Danny, so what does he know?

I had three - Nanny and Grandpa (Nanny was Welsh, which may be a factor; we were their only GCs), and Grandma (to all her grandchildren, though sometimes Grandma [surname] if their other grandmother was also called Grandma). For the subsequent generation they became Nanny and Grandpa [first name] and Great Grandma.

ZeldaUpNorth · 06/12/2011 14:33

We always call them Nana or Granda . Im in North East. Dp says Nan and is from North-West.