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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:
Annunziata · 06/12/2011 22:23

Nonno and nonna, now that is truly impossible to find!

susiey · 06/12/2011 22:26

we have a Granny , Grandad , Grandma and Baba (dd1 now 6 couldn't say Grandpa and it stuck!)
card factory is the place I can reliably find a great Grandma card at a reasonable price!

montmartre · 06/12/2011 22:37

my DH had a Nonno!

montmartre · 06/12/2011 22:38

Gosh- Bluestocking !!!!

Where have you been? Shock

imightbeaspy · 06/12/2011 22:45

Well they will be

Nana and Pop then Granny and Grampy on DHs side
on mine GongGong and PawPaw (I was born and grew up in HongKong)

FunnysInTheGarden · 06/12/2011 22:49

Grannie and Granpa and Nanna and NannaMichael (for step FIL) (actual FIL died before DC were born)

FunkyChicken · 07/12/2011 00:16

From my experience its a bit of a 'class' thing. I'm from a 'working class' background and everybody I knew in my youth had Nans and Nannas, now I know more 'middle class' people through work and my marriage, they seem to use Grandma more. Just an observation. OP - maybe you are too posh to know any Nannas? Wink

CardyMow · 07/12/2011 00:21

With my convoluted family - I have, a Nana (mother's mum), a Nanny (stepdad's mum), and a Granny (dad's mum). If I called ANY of them Grandma - I would get shot/yelled at/disowned. Despite them all being in their 70's or 80's - they say that Grandma is for 'old' people, not them...

lurkinginthebackground · 07/12/2011 00:24

Gran and Grandma.

TrinityRhino · 07/12/2011 00:27

I;ve not come up against this problem yet as my girls like to make their own cards.

But when I was little I have grandma and grandpa on my dads side and my mum didn't really get on with her mum (I don't really know what went on there) so there wasn't another

when I had my dd1 I was the first to have a child of my siblings
we were living with them for the first three months till we got naval accommodation and we I didn't meet dhs mum and step dad till she was about 5 weeks old

so dhs parents became nana and grampa

since then grampa has died and 'nana' has become very distant after dh died
but even so my girls are still making their cards so not an issue

I'm quite surprised that grandma and grandpa aren't the norm

that what I think is the first thought

not the only, but the first

I'm meema, for instance Grin

JollyJinglyJoo · 07/12/2011 00:27

My dc have a papa (my dad) and a Granny (DHs mum) I can't imagine if my mum were alive she would ever have been a nanna/ nana. She would have been a granny.

I hope I will be a Granny. I hate the idea of being a Nanna/ Nana/ Nanny- sounds like a banana or a goat. I have a long time hopefully before I need to worry about it, but now you guys have got me thinking!!

TrinityRhino · 07/12/2011 00:28

we were definitely not posh, grandma and grandpa, then nana and grandpa
posh! lol

TrinityRhino · 07/12/2011 00:30

I'm also totally with poppy

I WANT a blank card, I will decide what I want to say to the receiver

ItWasABoojum · 07/12/2011 00:35

I have a Grandma (also had a Granny) and don't find cards too much of a problem. Papa is more difficult - it's quite common among my acquaintances (in Scotland) but doesn't seem to have made it onto cards yet.

Morloth · 07/12/2011 02:25

My Mum is Nan and my inlaws are Grandma/Grandpa.

If my dad were alive he would be Pop.

dancingmustard · 07/12/2011 02:46

Nanny & Nonna.
Nanny being a childs nanny which is obvious.
Nonny which means old woman in medieval latin.
If you join the two together we get nanna which is much used in the north of england in my experience.

DoubleNegativePanda · 07/12/2011 03:15

DD has a Grandma, a Grandpa, a Nana, a Mamaw and a Papaw. Try finding a card for Mamaw and Papaw.

Sloobreeus · 07/12/2011 03:30

Granny and Grandpa. We have always chosen cards with an appropriate picture that G or G would like and which are blank inside for personal messages. When they were small the children made cards for their grandparents if I was feeling strong enough, not too busy cooking etc to supervise, not completely exhaused

Bluestocking · 07/12/2011 22:45

Bonsoir, Montmartre! Where have I been? Oh, you know, here and there. Jolly glad to be back on the grid, though. Anything I should know about?

MrsHarryPearce · 07/12/2011 22:50

OP, you were in Card Factory. Lord knows I love that shop (7 cards for £1 anyone?) but you were never going to a Grandma and Grandpa card in there were you?

squeakytoy · 07/12/2011 22:53

Nonna is the italian name for Grandma, so you could always get a card from Italy.. the rest of the wording would be in Italian too though... :)

montmartre · 07/12/2011 23:22

mmm bluestocking... well, I don't think I've seen you for about 3 years now, so maybe I'll leave the precis? Grin

Janoschi · 08/12/2011 03:38

Growing up I had Nan & Pop (maternal and Welsh) and Gran & Grandad (paternal and English). My DH had Omi & Opa (paternal and German) and Grandma & Grandpa (maternal and American). Our DD has Nana & Grandad (maternal) and Grandma & Grandpa (paternal). DD is only 7 months so it doesn't really matter yet. Still trying to work out what I want to be called!

BaronessOrczy · 08/12/2011 04:34

Granny, Grandma and Grandpa here.

On the subject of made up names, our family has 'Granties' and 'Gruncles' - for all the great aunts and uncles.

I love the Niblings, that's brilliant!

Is the singular of Granties spelt Granty or Grantie? Must check!

LAbaby · 08/12/2011 04:46

We have a grandma - midlands - and a granny - london. Growing up in the midlands all my friends had grandmas.

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