My parents just came out for a nice visit.  The time always flies by no matter how long they stay.

Seeing her and my parents interact is always a treat for all of them. It always makes me think about my own grandparents.

In my family, we called our grandfathers’ “Poppy” because the first grandchild, my brother, couldn’t say Grandpa, but instead called my father’s father Poppy.  And we called my mother’s father “Poppy with Smokey”–Smokey being the name of his dog.  Once again, this was based on my brother John’s toddler mind insights. After all, dogs do tend to make impressions on kids.

My father chose to be called “Grandad” and all of the kids light up when they see him.  Grandma is my mother’s choice, although several of the kiddos have been known to call her possessively, “MY Grandma” much to her delight.

I don’t know what I’d like to be called should I be lucky enough to have grandchildren.  But a friend of my mother’s had the best grandmother name–“Madam”.  Her grandchildren would run up to her calling, “Madam, Madam!” It wasn’t because the grandmother insisted on such a formal name, but because as a mother she had so many daughters that the girls’ suitors would call their mother “Madam” as if the house were a brothel and the nickname stuck.

What names did you call your grandparents? What do your kiddos call your parents?