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Parenting

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Original poster

Mummy / Mamie

6 replies

Ninnypie · 07/05/2015 22:01

My DD's grandmother is French and wants to be called Mamie. However it sounds exactly like Mummy. DD does seem to be a bit confused as when she hears her grandmother talking about 'Mamie' she often looks at me.

I was wondering if we should encourage another name or whether DD will perhaps change 'Mamie' (or even Mummy! But I hope not) herself at some pont? Or whether in time, it won't even be a problem.

Anyone else had this?

Thanks.

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helloelo · 08/05/2015 22:36

Pretty much all French grand mothers are Mamie. It's not like in English. One alternative is Mamou or Grand-mère. But it's ultra rare. To my bilingual ear, the two don't sound the same though. Are you sure she doesn't look at you because, well, you're her mother and she needs comfort / validation / likes to look at you? :) also, it's very transitional and she will soon not be confused at all. Anyway, imho, let it go (but )

booksshoescats · 08/05/2015 22:41

Agree that to my ear it also doesn't sound the same. My mum is called this by her granddaughters and initially my sil felt that it might be confusing but came round to it and it was never a problem for the children. 'A' and 'uh' really do sound different to me.

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Ninnypie · 08/05/2015 23:08

Thanks for replies. seems it will be fine!

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elelfrance · 11/05/2015 15:47

I've had this discussion with a friend, and we're both Irish, where Mummy is Mammy, so pronounced exactly the same. My friend went with making her DHs husband 'mamou' ... as my DH's mother already has grandkids that call her Mamie (and because I couldn't be bothered setting down rules), she's mamie. I reckoned my LO wouldn't be confused, as children always recognize their mother, whatever she's called ;-)
As its turned out, as LO has a french childminder, french playmates etc, she calls me maman, because everyone who talks about me calls me that ... doesn't bother me in the slightest

amyboo · 16/05/2015 12:05

We have the same - we live in Belgium with one set of grandparents in France and one set in the UK. My kids are bilingual. My Mum (in France) is Mamie. It was a bit confusing when DS1 was little (as he was mostly anglophone, but it's fine now (he's 5). DS2 (age 2) currently calls her Mimi, so distinguishes us fine :-)

popmimiboo · 05/07/2015 20:06

Mine call MIL "mamy." They call me "mummy" when we're speaking English (most of the time) but seem to subconsciously switch to "maman" when we're just with French people.
They call my mum "grandma" but refer to her as "notre mamie" when speaking to French friends!

They funniest thing is that French DH is 100% "daddy" no matter what language they're speaking. No idea why as he doesn't even speak English.

(We live in France btw.)

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