Three Flavors By Linda Stowe
Back in my day there were three flavors of ice cream: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. There were also three channels on the TV and just about that many choices when it came to makes of cars. Of course there were the outliers, the folks who served peach ice cream and maybe drove a BMW. But those of us in the mainstream knew our place and we were fine. None of that poofy stuff for us. If we wanted a change from what was on TV, we’d go out and sit on the porch for a spell.
I think the shift came with the grandmothers. They no longer wanted to be called “Grandma.” Even the term Grandmother, while it carried a note of poise and class, still sounded like an admission of being old. So, they started referring to themselves as Nana and before long their husbands followed suit. Grandma and Grandpa became Gammy and Poppy and any number of variations of those terms.
A lot has changed since I was a kid. These days you can get ice cream in any number of flavors and the same goes with TV and cars. But regardless of what we call them, grandparents seem to be the same. Grandmas want to feed you, and Grandpas ask you to pull their finger.
Wordle guess words: about, poise porch, poofy, poppy
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Polly here.
This made me wonder about a few things.
First of all, I think this whole grandparent-naming thing shifted because grandparents didn’t want to seem old. In their mind’s eye, they thought of their own grandparents as being old and fuddy. But not these people now. No way. No how. They were still young and hip, even if their children were having children. So they came up with their hip and trendy names.
Here are some of the most popular.
Grandmothers:
Gigi
Mimi
Bibi
Momo
Gran
Grandfathers:
Poppy
Pops
Papi
G-Pa
Grandude
And more:
Meemaw / MeeMaw
Mamaw / Mawmaw
Bubba / Bobo
Oma / Opa (German)
Bubbie / Zadie / Baba
My grandkids call me Polly.
At least the two that consider me a grandparent.
Albeit, the other ones call me Polly two.
A rose by any other name…. and all that nonsense.
Anyway.
Rose here. Wait.
Grandma here. Wait.
Oh heckins. I think I’ll just have the vanilla ice cream, please. Wait.
I don’t eat ice cream.
Clearly, this blog has gotten out of hand.
