A Grandma By Any Other Name ....

I raised an autistic child and was well aware that he often took the things I said literally.  I guess I forgot that other small children can be equally confused by our choice of words.

My oldest grandson will soon be eight years old.  He came to visit, and after spending some time playing with his Grandfather, he sat with me for a while.  He asked me, "Nana, why don't I have a Grandmother?" 

I was shocked, but informed him he did, in fact, have two Grandmothers. (well three if we want to get technical, but let's not just now).  He said, "No I don't." And I said, "I'm your Grandmother, and Budda is your other Grandmother."  Instantly I saw the problem.  While the other one was Gramma in the beginning, the wee one couldn't pronounce that and one day it came out as Budda, and that has stuck. Me, I've always been Nana because I had a Nana and a Nanny myself while growing up.  So, while this grandson knew his Mother had both a Grandmother and a Grandfather, known to him as GG and GGPaw, he though he just had a Grandfather and no Grandmothers.

After being straightened out on this matter, he sat quietly for a while thinking about it. I guess he got it straight because when he spoke again, he said, "So, my mommy had me and my brother, and you had Daddy and Uncle Steve, right?"  I assured him that this was so.  I think he was relieved to discover that he did actually have Grandmothers, even if he calls us something else.  He wasn't so deprived after all.  Grandmothers are special people you know.