This Way To My Blog

This Way To My Blog

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Whats In A Name?

My two daughters call me mother and when they get perturbed they say mooothurrr. Mother seems rather formal for me so I don't know how that got started. My siblings and I called our parents mama and daddy. When their first grandchild came along she couldn't pronounce grandma. It came out Mema and I guess Papaw sort of rhymed and then the next 13 grandkids followed suite. Now my Daddy had several aunts. Aunt Essie, aunt Agnes, aunt Alice, aunt Stella and then there was Myrtle. I wonder why she didn't deserve to be called aunt? Maybe because she was a snobby person? She was. Aunt Essie we called aunt but we didn't know her. She lived in our area but had married a man who didn't want ther to have much to do with her family so why did we call her aunt when we never talked to her? My three uncles weren't called uncle just Harold, Jesse, and Raymond. Our grandparents were called grandma Morgan and Grandpa Jennings. I guess that was to distinguish them from the other grandparents before I was born or old enough to know what a grandpa was. There was four kids in our family and we were never called by a knick name, always our proper name. Bobby was not named Robert, he was Bobby. Patsy was not Patricia, she was Patsy, and then there was Maxine and Pauline. When we were growing up there was a mexican family catty cornered across the street. They adopted Gladys and Hope but they pronounced it Hope-ie. Our mama would let us go over and play with the girls. I was completely fasinated by the woman of the house. She wore her hair up with dangling earrings and rouge on her cheeks. She had fancy bottles of perfume on her dresser. Can you imagine the awe a little country bumpkin felt? When I would go home I would say Mrs. Reyes said this and Mrs. Reyes said that, and Mrs. Reyes did this. Finally my mama got so tired of hearing Mrs. Reyes she told me if I ever hear you call her Mrs. again I will spank you until you can't set down. Boy! Did that burst my bubble. What was I suppose to call a diva like this? In school and sunday school we were taught to have respect for our elders. I was very careful to skirt around her name for a while. Another girl I played with called her mama Pookie. I didn't think I would try that on my mama.

15 comments:

Janie said...

I used Mom and Daddy. I called my dad Daddy for years. lol My kids call me Mom except for oldest son and he calls me mamma. My other 2 kids laugh at him. lol My dad's brothers and sisters were not that much older than I so I only called 2 of his sisters Aunt. When talking about my dad's parents; I always said their last name. My mother's mom was Granny and did I ever think she was special. lol Have a wonderful Friday. Janie

Amelia said...

I say momma and daddy. Antonio calls my mom, GANNY. Yes, without the "r" lol. Antonio calls me mommy and sometimes MADRE with a growl when he's mad lol! . -Missy

http://learningtoadapt.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi...I am called Mom by my children..Dad or Daddy is hubby's name...grands call us Granny and Pappaw...my two in Florida call us Nana and Pappaw..interesting to note that my Mother was call "doe doe" by grands...have no idea where it came from LOL..she liked it..so guess that is all that matters LOL..I only new my mother's mother...and she Grandmother...and that is all I am going to say about her LOLOL...interesting blog Paula...very nice...glad we are staying in touch...hugs and God Bless...Ora

Cindi said...

I use mom & dad...with my grandma still kickin'..she's 98..our kids know to call her great grandma...when my aunt kate was still living I taught all the grand kids to call her The GREAT GREAT Aunt Kate...that way the knew their anecestory with her....lol

Alice said...

Really enjoyed this one, Paula. My daughter calls me "mother" when I do or say something sort of stupid :( Of course, she says it with a smile. I'm mamma otherwise to them :).....

How I See It said...

When my grandson was born I could not think of what name I wanted to be called, so for the first year of his life I was referred to as, "She who has no name". It became a family joke. Fortunately, he was not old enough to speak, so the name did not stick. Now I am Mom Mom.
Karen

sober white women said...

I called my parents mom and dad. My children called my parents gran and poppa.

Kelli

Jan said...

I am pleased you are here amongst us now Paula ,hope you and John are well ...love Jan xx ,

Unknown said...

Great entry! That made me thinking of all my relatives and what I call them. It is funny but all my childhood names for them have stuck. I think the part of the entry about the next door Diva is too funny! Hope your day is good.

Anonymous said...

I knew that if my mamma called my middle name I was in big trouble. When I was older I started calling her Mom so ast to not sound babyish to my friends. Maybe that's why you are addressed with formality. Have a good weekend!

Joyce said...

I always called my parents Mom and Dad and my mother's mother was Grandma. My dad's parents were French Canadian and we called them Meme' and Pepe'. When my granddaughter came along she couldn't say Grandma and tried all the easy things but I was determined not to let her do it. I worked with her until she said Grandma and the rest followed her lead. Loved this entry Paula.
Hugs, Joyce

Gerry said...

This entry kind of struck my funny bone. I remember we started calling Mama Mother quite early, and I knew it was to call to her attention that a mother had dignity (she was too wild to suit our tastes) Mother was kind of a rebuke, but we continued to call Daddy daddy because it was useless to call him anything else hoping to change him. To ourselves we referred to him as 'Father' generally making fun. Besides he liked being called Daddy so since we thought he had lots of money we were willing to please. Gerry

Rose said...

my mom called her mother ma, my dad called his dad 'the old man' my son calls me ma too. my grand kids call me da'ma when they are first learning to talk, they all had the same speech problem. now you know they call me grandma roses.

Sage Ravenwood said...

My daughter would use that term Mother around her friends. I think she thought it was more distinguished. Me? I was mom and that was that. I do remember calling my great grandmother by her maiden name though. I thought that was a bit strange. But it seems to have been the custom in those days. (Hugs)Indigo

Lisa said...

I called my grandmother "nanny" and grandpa was "pappy". I don't refer to any of my aunts and uncles with that before their name. I had to burst out laughing at your mom telling you to stop talking about the Mrs.
This was a fun entry Paula, I really enjoyed it.