Thursday, May 29, 2008

Grandma By Any Other Name....


Some people go through life as a grandparent with one name that their grandchildren call them. There are Nannas, Grammys, Memaws...... you get the idea I'm sure. I don't fall into this classification as a one name grandparent. Each of my Yankee grandchildren have given me my own unique name. Alley Oop called me Mammaw, with T~Bear I was Bammaw, Britt called had always called me Grandma until she became a teenager and then changed it to G'ma. Riley called me Gummaw and just recently has changed that to Grandma. Seth hasn't given me a name yet, but I am sure it will be as unique as the others. Oh and did I mention that Riley calls for me every time he gets in trouble and is about to be punished. I think it goes something like, "I WANT MY GRANDMA!"

The story I am about to share with you started when Riley was about 3 years old. We had all gathered at Chris and Melody's house for some sort of important celebration. I can't recall what it was, but I do recall a lot of people there. Riley loving the outside like he did, kept wanting to go outside. Chris told him he could go outside, but he wasn't allowed to leave the front porch. With Riley that was like throwing a bone to a dog and then telling him don't chew it. I happened to look out the window and sure enough there was Riley out in the yard having a grand time digging a hole.

I didn't want to be a snitch, but thought Chris needed to know that Riley was not on the porch. Chris walked outside and asked Riley who told him he could leave the porch. Riley is a smart child. Right away he figured out that Daddy had given him a 'fill in the missing name question'. The first name that came to mind was of course Mommy. Hmmmm.... Dad decided he needed to play this out, so he told Riley that he was going to go ask Mommy if she had said that. I was standing on the porch during all of this and saw Riley squirming around as his daddy disappeared inside the house, not knowing if Mommy was going to cover for him or not. I personally believe that Chris didn't even ask her. He soon reappeared and informed Riley that his Mommy said she didn't tell him he could leave the porch. Then came more truth searching by asking him if he was sure someone told him he could leave the porch. Riley's answer was "Yes!" Well then WHO told him that he could leave the porch. There was that fill in the name question again. Immediately his eyes fell on me and just one word came out of his mouth....... "Gummaw!" I know that I should have said something, but His big brown eyes were fixed on me and they were almost pleading, "Help me out here Gummaw, Pleeeease." I said nothing, but of course Chris knew I hadn't told Riley he could leave the porch. Still I said nothing.

It wasn't long that I started to regret not saying anything on that day. It also wasn't long before Riley developed a knack for spurting out nasty words. I am pretty careful about what I say in front of the grandchildren. As Riley was going through this phase that most children go through, that question was asked of him again ...... "Who did you hear saying those words?" Can you guess the answer Riley gave to his Mommy and Daddy? Ahhhh Haaaa..... It was "Grandma". This threw them because I was Gummaw, Melody's mom was Grammy and her Grandma was of course Grandma. It was a pretty far reach to think that he had heard his Great Grandma at the age of 88 cussing like that. The next question they asked was "Which Grandma?" Well it was the one that lives past the lake. Since the other two live in 'Tucky' that pretty much left me as the culprit that needed my mouth washed out with soap.

By keeping my mouth closed that first time, I had become Riley's partner in crime. Riley attended a Christian Preschool and they have a nice collection of playground equipment for the children to play on. One piece of playground equipment is a wooden ark. I don't recall if I mentioned this before, but during this school year, Riley and one of his friends took crayons out for play time in their pockets and proceeded to color the ark. Of course he did get in trouble for what he had done. To this day I have wondered if he told his teacher that "Gummaw told him he should do that!"

Grandma by any other name will always be Grandma, and I wouldn't trade being a Grandma for anything else in the world.

Wishing you a day of blessings. ~Jo

11 comments:

Tracy said...

OH OH! Laughing. Thank you for sharing this story. Kids certainly can throw us for a loop at times.... lol Can't get away with anything. Sheesh.

Mike Golch said...

Great posting,and who would not want to be a grand parent.

Diane at Crafty Passions said...

I enjoyed your story about the grandchildren so much!
I am not a gramma and it most likely will never happen,but that's ok too.I am a grandma to a sweet little cat called Freda.!
Thanks for stopping by my blog.
Diane
http://dianobe.blogspot.com/

Jeff B said...

The part that made this post so funny is that it was about someone elses children. Isn't it amazing how cute these stories are about a kid getting into trouble when it's not your own?

Thanks for the chuckle.

The Old Man and His Dog said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. you are always so nice.

By the way, my Grandmother is 93 and she's still "Nanny" to me. She's also a great great grandmother to my one year old grandson Mason. She's in a nursing home and I think of her often. She can't get around, but sharp as a tack most days. Her mind is definitely still there and her memory is better than mine. all her friends and spouse have long since passed. She's so unhappy trapped in that old non-functioning body and just wants to leave us.

Thanks for stopping by to visit.

Rich

Carole Burant said...

Awwww what a wonderful story! I need all of this ammunition with me when I become a grandma for the first time in October! lol I do remember my mom sticking up for my own boys when they were little and did something wrong...maybe that's just part of being a grandma, taking the blame! hehe When you have a chance, make sure you drop by my blog to enter my giveaway:-) xoxo

Betty said...

That was an interesting read, Jo. All our grandchildren except two call Ed Granddaddy. The other two call him PaPa. Don't know to this day how that happened.

Diane at Crafty Passions said...

I just noticed your Redneck Seafood Platter, its halarious!!
Thanks for the giggle!!
Diane
http://dianobe.blogspot.com/

Aisha said...

It made me smile just thinking that Riley wants you to rescue him. My grandma from father's side died at age of 94. I became close to her because she would tell me stories about war during WWII and scary stories. She speaks Spanish and asked her to teach me sometimes. I was sad when she died because she is really special to me. I want to have a grandma again! Lol. Thanks for sharing this, Jo. Made me remember her. :)

Peggy said...

I just loved reading this post! I have 9 grandchildren and know just how you feel!

Mountain Mama said...

Riley sounds like my kind of kid!
Most of my grandkids and great grandkids call me grandma, but one grandson called me Gummy because I always gave him gum. Three of my great granddaughters and one great grandson call me Mimi. I don't know where it came from. They call their grandma Nana.