Both mom and mother-in-law go by "Oma"

dianabetty · July 2016

My husband and I both have older nieces and nephews, and our mom's have both gone by "Oma" for years.. any one else have this issue? How do you keep it less confusing for the baby? My mother-in-law has said she'll switch to grandma, but I feel bad making her do that - she obviously likes and is used to Oma.

allthingscozy · July 2016

Why can't they both go by Oma ? Both my grandmas went by grandma and it wasn't confusing

coffeeandcupcakes · July 2016

Have them duel to the death is obviously the only option. Winner takes the name.

givemepenguinss · July 2016

Whichever one is taller gets to keep Oma.

Serpica · July 2016

I agree they can both continue going by Oma... But you could also add their first name at the end maybe to make things clearer...

jjtruffles · July 2016

I'd probably use sonething along the lines of the first initial of their last name after Oma. Like "Pappy & Oma A (Initial of DH's parents' last name" and "Grandpa & Oma B (initial of your parents' last name"

LilLambie · July 2016

Both of my grandma's are Nana. One is Nana Pam and one is Nana Pat. We never had an issue as kids with it.

PhoebeJune1984 · July 2016

We ran into something kind of similar. My Oma would be DD's "overgrootmoeder", and then my mom would be her "Oma". Since a little kid obviously isn't going to be able to say "overgrootmoeder", but they both still wanted to be "Oma", my mom is DD's "Oma", and my grandma is DD's "Omie" (Oh-mee). That way, we don't have to refer to them at Oma T, and Oma A....just Oma and Omie, and she knows exactly who we are talking about. Maybe your mom, or your MIL is willing to go by Omie and the other go by Oma?

My DD calls her grandparents names other than what her cousins use (it was her doing, not ours). It is only occasionally confusing, like when my SIL says "Go ask Grandpa..." because DD referred to her great-grandpa (now deceased) as "Grandpa". My mom wanted to be Oma, and DD apparently thought that was okay and has always called her that. My Oma wanted to be Omie, and DD has stuck with that. She also calls MIL "Grandma" which is what her cousins call MIL. However, DD went all crazy when it came to the men in the family. My husband's great-grandpa was already "Great-Papa". DD refused to call him that, and dubbed him "Grandpa". My FIL has always been "Grandpa", and DD refused to call him that....and calls him "Papa". And my dad was going to be called "Grandpa", but DD has always called him "Pappy". None of them had an issue with it (except my SIL, who can never remember). Even my MIL, who had been saying "Grandpa" (when talking to grandkids about her husband), for 15+ years before DD came along, never forgets that it is "Papa" to DD. So even if your kid refers to one grandparent as something different than the rest of the grandkids....everyone will catch on and it wont be that big of a deal.

KASG · July 2016

Your kid will probably call them whatever you tell him/her to call them. And even then, sometimes they pick their own names for grandparents. Lol

whataboutscience · July 2016

We use grandma for both and started adding their last names when it was clear DD was confused whose place we were going to. I'd ask what they feel comfortable with. My DH calls one Grandma then first name, and the other by last name. One of the great grandmas has the same first name as my mom, so it's confusing no matter how we do it. They will figure it out!

megstervt · July 2016

My mom and MIL are both grandma and they both have the same first name, so unless we use first initials of last names that's going to get confusing. It's crossed my mind a number of times, but I just figure it will sort itself out eventually either by LO deciding on his own names or us figuring out a solution when we need to. I've got bigger fish to fry at the moment (like getting this kid out of my body)