Butter and a butter knife (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Why Would You Put Butter In the Well?

You would put butter in a well if you had no electricity and lived too far out in the country for a weekly purchase of ice to keep everything cold.

June Pair Kilpatrick’s memoir about growing up in the 1930s and 1940s, Wasps in the Bedroom, Butter in the Well: Growing Up During the Great Depression, describes this low point among the 21 places she lived the first 21 years of her life.

“While my parents,… no doubt, wondered if they would ever again be able to leave the rural life they had both escaped in their youth, only to be thrust back into it by the Depression, I was reveling in a feeling of belonging that I’d never known before.”

June Kilpatrick’s memoir is at times touching, as when she tells the story of encountering a quadruple amputee on the train in the middle of World War II. He was, literally, a “basket case,” and this is where that term comes from.

It is at times sweet, as when, in her introduction, she explains that when she was seven, while sitting in the outhouse, she calculated how long she would have to live to make it to the year 2000.

She would have to live to 67, the age her grandmother was at the time.

It is at times reflective, as when she remembers the excitement of going to the circus in New York City as a child, then going to the Moscow circus as an adult, after she learned that at least one of the animals she’d seen in childhood was abused in captivity.

Can You Introduce Poetry Into a Non-Fiction Memoir?

June includes a sonnet she wrote in college, but, at times, her prose is poetic as well.

In this example, for instance, she describes blackberry picking.

“The berries we didn’t eat fresh with cereal or just a frosting of sugar fell under my mother’s wand and became pies, jelly and jam or ended up in glass jars – jars and jars of plain sweet blackberries ready for winter….

“As the pressure cooker did its work, the little valve on top danced and jiggled, celebrating one load of full jars after another.”

What Does a Writer Recommend to Anyone Considering Writing a Memoir?

In a recent interview with June, she advised those thinking about writing a memoir to just do it.

“Do not allow yourself not to do it because you are afraid your stories aren’t important or that nobody cares. You may not know who will be glad you did.”

June spent five years writing her memoir, thinking, for each of the eleven editions she wrote and printed onto 3-hole paper to be bound in a notebook, that that would be how it was finally delivered to her family.

Instead, just weeks before her 80^th birthday, coming up on May 21, 2012, her memoir, Wasps in the Bedroom, Butter in the Well: Growing Up During the Great Depression was released in paperback, by Inkwater Press.

What a fabulous birthday present.

What a gift for anyone who grew up in that time or knows someone who did.

Happy Birthday, Granny June Bug.

Click on the bar below to listen to Part I of my interview with June about how to write a memoir.

Click on the bar to listen to Part II of my interview with June.

Click here to order Kilpatrick’s book from amazon, available in paperback or on Kindle, Wasps in the Bedroom, Butter in the Well: Growing Up During the Depression.

Are there any stories about your family you would like your children or grandchildren to hear?

Do you treasure some things but have never told your children why?

Do you have regrets about something you did or didn’t do that you now wish you had?

To you and writing down the memories you hold for your grandchildren.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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Why Would You Put Butter in the Well? Book Thursday.

At most airport gates, you see people reading, knitting, talking on their cell phones, working on their laptops, watching an overhead television newscast, or people watching.

Delta/Sky West CRJ900 number N804SK at San Francisco International Airport, USA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On a recent trip I took, people waiting at the gate for a plane were playing on game consoles.

They looked just like the little mini-jukeboxes that Silver Diner has recreated at tableside.

And, indeed, these were over a table between two seats. Some of the games were multiplayer.

The seats were all taken, so I didn’t get to see what many of the games were, but they seemed like simple games, like Solitaire and Hangman.

All free.

It turns out that this was specific to the Delta gates, not LaGuardia in general. Click here to read more about Delta’s new iPads in waiting areas.

You can even order food. Really? I assume this means it’s ready when you walk up to get carryout, not that they deliver it to your gate.

Now, I can understand where airports, like London’s Heathrow, might want to cash in on this trend by offering Game Rooms at a price (30 euros/approximately $40).

But, 10 airports in the U.S. have been cited for being kid-friendly for their free kids play areas.

They have playrooms, airline-related museums and books you can buy at one airport and turn in to get half price back at another airport.

But, from a gee whiz technology standpoint, San Francisco International Airport is the place to wait.

Their Kids’ Spot has a Plasma Wall of tile squares activated by sounds in the airport. Click here to see how this cool technology works, with shooting beams of light.

The airport also has a touch wall for adults that lets you play a simple matching game by touching tiles that appear to turn and reveal an icon.

You try to match the icons as fast as possible. Imagine you are Vanna White turning over letters on Wheel of Fortune.

Click here and you can see the touch wall in a YouTube video.

Did I mention, San Francisco airport also has a yoga room.

It almost makes you want to fly.

What interesting things have you seen at airports that were entertaining?

What would you like to see in an airport?

What do you do when you are waiting somewhere with your grandchildren?

To you and finding delight in unexpected moments.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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When Did They Start Putting Game Consoles in Airports?

We were waiting for a connecting flight at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

Mobile phone evolution (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We sat down to have lunch in a bar near our gate.

“How long have you had electrical outlets along the bar?” I asked the bartender.

About every two feet there was an outlet so people could recharge computers or cell phones.

“I don’t know. Probably about two years. Ever since I’ve been here,” the bartender replied.

Sure, this is New York, a major transportation hub.

But, outlets for recharging electronic devices in a bar?!

Where Else Can You Recharge Your Phone in Public?

The last couple of times I traveled on Amtrak, I noticed they had electrical outlets next to the seat, easier to use if you were sitting next to the window.

When I sit at airport gates, now, I notice people recharging phones and laptops in the wall outlets.

Seniortravel.about.com‘s overview of where you can recharge includes the fact that some airports have dedicated cell phone charging stations (some free; some paid).

And, you will even find electrical outlets on Greyhound buses!

What Does This Have to Do with Being a Good Grandmother?

A couple of years ago, when I was interviewing mothers and grandmothers for my book, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers,” one young mother exploded in frustration that her mother had not taken her cell phone with her to the park with the grandchildren.

“Doesn’t she understand how important it is to have her cell phone with her in case anything happens?”

It seems the grandmother’s cell phone wasn’t charged, so she didn’t see any point in taking it with her.

And, after all, the park was only two blocks from her daughter’s home.

She thought she could take her grandchildren two blocks away to play without being tethered to a cell phone for a couple of hours.

The young mother was unrelenting, “If she is going to be responsible for my children, the least she can do is keep her cell phone charged.”

What unusual places have you spotted where you can recharge your phone or laptop?

Do you look for places to recharge or wait until you get home?

Have you ever left your recharger or phone in the outlet and lost it?

To you and keeping a charge wherever you go.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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When Did They Start Putting Electrical Outlets in Bars for the Customers?

Our six-year-old grandson was all dressed up for an outdoor event – dress shoes, dress shirt, blazer and tie.

This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Czech Wikipedia for th week, 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a few hours, he started getting restless and hot.

He started to take his tie off, but his Dad, wearing a tie in the heat himself, objected.

“You have to keep your tie on, Buddy,” he told him.

That’s when I spotted a cord that looked like part of a zipper.

“Do you have a zipper on your tie?” I asked him.

He proudly showed me the end of the zipper, tucked into the back of the knot on the tie.

He showed me how he could loosen the tie because of the zipper, without untying it, and slip it over his head.

By then, my husband had come over to see the zipper.

“My grandfather never learned how to tie a tie,” he told our grandson.

“My grandmother used to tie it for him, loosen it like yours, then hang it on the doorknob.

“When he got dressed, he just slipped it over his head like yours, then pulled it up tight around his neck like you are now,” he continued.

“Except, he never had a zipper. That would have made it a lot easier,” he finished.

By then, several other men had come over to admire the zipper in the tie.

Our grandson never tried to take the tie off again.

How Did Boys Used to Learn How to Tie Ties?

I think my husband’s father taught him how to tie a tie.

My father taught my brothers how to tie a tie.

My husband taught our older son how to tie a tie.

Our younger son learned from a friend’s father when my husband was out of town.

Then, he reinforced the lesson by looking it up on the Internet and finding five videos showing different ways to tie a tie. He’s now 32.

And, the father of the boy with a zipper in his tie.

Apparently, zipper ties aren’t just for little boys. Click here for a video on how zipper ties work from MyNiceTie.com

Click here for a video on how to tie a tie for beginners, the common double Windsor knot, also from MyNiceTie.com

Who taught your sons how to tie a tie?

Do your grandsons wear ties yet?

Do you know how to tie a tie?

To passing on the wisdom of generations and watching the improvements the next generation brings.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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• Who invented zipper?(articles4friends.com)

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Do Your Ties Have Zippers?

Last week, readers spent the most time on:

An overview of LaGuardia airport highlighting crash site of USAir Flight 405 in the white circle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

• You Mean People Didn’t Get to America by Walking Across the Bering Strait?
• How Many Games of Online Scrabble Do You Have Going?
• How to Do Nothing with Nobody
• What Does It Take to Make an Egg Float?
• Forever Stamp. How Much Is a Postage Stamp?

Last month, readers spent the most time on:

• How Can You Make a Plastic Bottle Cave In Without Touching It?
• You Mean People Didn’t Get to America by Walking Across the Bering Strait?
• What Is Cornstarch?
• Can You Make Popcorn Kernels Dance?
• Can You Poke a Straw Through a Potato?

Coming up next week:

Do Your Ties Have Zippers? Monday, May 14, 2012

Sunshine. Coats. Daddies.

When Did They Start Putting Electrical Outlets in Bars for Customers? Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Cell phones. Laptops. Chargers.

When Did They Start Putting Game Consoles in Airports? Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Plasma. Silver Diner. Hangman.

Why Would You Put Butter in the Well? Book Thursday, May 17, 2012

Wasps. Sewing machines. Circus.

How Do You Make a Helicopter from Paper? Fun with Grandchildren. Friday, May 18, 2012

Staples. Notebooks. Maples.

Poetry Corner, Saturday, May 19, 2012 need a poem. Does Dan have any suitable?

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Weekly Recap. Sunday, May 13, 2012

I have a friend who lost his mother a few years ago.

Every year, we release balloons on Mother’s Day

To remember and honor our mothers.

We write our mother’s name on the balloon

And watch it float away into the sky.

This year, for the first time, all four of us will be releasing balloons.

One Mother

You can only have one mother

Patient, kind and true;

No other friend in all the world,

Will be the same to you.

When other friends forsake you,

To mother you will return,

For all her loving kindness,

She asks nothing in return.

As we look upon her picture,

Sweet memories we recall,

Of a face so full of sunshine,

And a smile for one and all.

Sweet Jesus, take this message,

To our dear mother up above;

Tell her how we miss her,

And give her all our love.

This poem comes from Mother Grandmother Poems at funeralprogram-site.com.

At this site, you can select any of their poems and have them engraved on a card of your choosing, with a photo of your Mom or Grandma, suitable for a funeral service.

Carol Covin, “Granny-Guru”

Click here to order my book, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

http://newgrandmas.com

P.S. Click here to order this blog on your Kindle

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Grandparent Poems. Loss.

When I was growing up, on Sunday nights it was Dad’s turn to feed the five of us.

Kernel and popped popcorn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

He rotated between grilled cheese sandwiches and popcorn.

I still remember the grating of the skillet as he scraped it back and forth across the burner on the stove. And, I remember the smell of fresh popcorn and freshly melted butter filling the air.

We all dug in and went into the den to watch t.v. together, over full bowls of popcorn.

Today’s activity is a test to see how popcorn reacts when you make it different ways.

We recently bought loose popcorn again to see if it is cheaper than microwave popcorn, as it used to be.

Now, they are about the same price, but when you pop your own, it pops up fluffier and fresher and you can add your own butter and salt, which are always a lot less than the microwave bags.

Wet or Dry?

Here is the test I tried to compare the number of kernels popped if you started with wet or dry popcorn.

Ingredients:

• One-third of a cup of popcorn (dry)
• One-third of a cup of popcorn (in a shallow bowl, covered with water for 20 minutes)
• 1/8 of a cup (about 2 tablespoons) of vegetable oil
• Two big bowls
• Two big saucepans
• Stove top
• Butter and salt (optional)

Instructions:

• Turn the heat to medium under one saucepan.
• Add oil; wait for a minute for it to heat up
• Add one-third cup of popcorn
• Shake pan every 15-30 seconds as it begins to heat up
• Continue shaking pan until popcorn kernels stop popping (about five minutes)
• Immediately pour fresh popcorn into bowl.
• Repeat with popcorn that has been soaking, after draining the water off the popcorn and drying it
• Count the number of unpopped kernels in each batch.
• Add melted butter and salt to taste, if you like.

What Should Happen

This activity came from Bill Nye, The Science Guy.

Bill Nye says what is supposed to happen is that the kernels soaked in water have fewer unpopped kernels because there is more moisture.

When I tried it, I had 9 unpopped kernels with the dry popcorn and 16 with the soaked popcorn. I used two different-sized pots, so this might have affected the outcome.

On further research, I found an ehow.com site that recommended comparing eight batches of popcorn, two each with four different conditions, for a science fair project:

• Soaked overnight
• Soaked for 20 minutes
• Dried in oven at 250 degrees for two hours
• Control, with no changes

I did not try all these, only the one soaked for 20 minutes.

If Bill Nye is right, I would expect the popcorn soaked overnight to pop the best because of the extra moisture and the popcorn dried in the oven to be the worst of the four variations because it wouldn’t have enough moisture.

But, since it is the hardness of the kernel, combined with the starch of the corn that makes popping corn pop, that would make me think that if you soak the kernel and soften it, fewer of the kernels would pop. And, this is the result I got.

I would love to hear what results readers get.

Why Does Popcorn Pop?

The key is the hard hull.

Since the outside shell of a popcorn kernel is hard, it keeps moisture inside until the dramatic explosion when heat turns the moisture inside the kernel to steam.

The steam has enough pressure to burst the hard shell and release the soft, fluffy, starchy corn inside.

Potatoes can also burst from steam building up within the starchy potato. This is why you prick the skin of a baked potato with the tines of a fork when you bake it in a microwave.

The sweet corn we eat off the cob has neither enough starch inside the kernel nor the hardness of popping corn’s shell to make it suitable for popping.

If you’d like more information about different kinds of corn and growing your own popcorn (I spent five years in Iowa, where the field corn is destined for pigs, not people), click here.

Can You Make Your Own Microwaveable Popcorn?

Yes.

Instructions:

• Put one-quarter of a cup of popcorn in a brown paper lunch bag
• Fold over the top two or three times
• Seal the bag with tape
• Put it in the microwave with the folded side up
• Turn the microwave on
• Take the bag out when you hear the kernels stop popping.

Most microwave ovens have a popcorn setting. Thanks to makeandtakes.com for this suggestion.

Thanks, Dad, for the memories of popcorn from your hands.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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Learn more about the stages of childhood at WikiMommy.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How to Do Nothing with Nobody.

Robert Paul Smith, Author of How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone By Yourself, cherishes the long, lazy days of his childhood.

He and his friends made up things to do with materials at hand – spools, bits of leather, cedar cigar boxes, chestnuts, peach pits, and wishbones.

The 2010 reprint of his 1958 book includes this warning to parents about the activities he describes, as many of them use knives and ice picks:

“Parental Advisory:

“This book describes activities that may be dangerous if not done exactly as directed or that may be inappropriate for young children.

“All of these activities should be carried out under adult supervision only.

“The author’s estate and the publisher expressly disclaim all liability for any injury or damages that may result from engaging in the activities contained in this book.”

If you still want to read the book after this warning, you get to decide if you want to introduce your grandchildren to how to throw a Boy Scout knife in a game of mumbly-peg or use an ice pick to punch holes in a piece of leather for a sling shot.

This is probably the kind of thing your father did when he was growing up at the same time of the author’s childhood in the 1920s.

What Can You Do That Doesn’t Involve a Knife?

• You can poke the end of a stick into a rotten apple on the ground and fling it as far as it will fly. Smith calls this “Whipping Apples.”

• You can drop a maple-wing from as high a spot as you can reach and watch it flutter down on the breeze.

• You can use a fingernail to open the seed of a maple-wing and glue the sticky part that comes out onto your nose, so you look like you have the beak of a parrot. Smith calls this “Polly-nose,” as in “Polly wants a cracker.”

• You can rub the high part of a clamshell down on cement until you’ve worked a hole into it large enough to fit your hand through, for a clamshell bracelet.

• You can make the stem of a dandelion curl.

• You can make a whistle out of a blade of grass.

• You can make a basket out of a lapful of burrs.

•  You can make a boomerang out of two pieces of wood from an orange crate and a rubber band.

How Do I Know His Descriptions Work?

Smith made each of the things he describes for the book, reliving the joy of the carefree days of his childhood.

For anything beyond his simple instructions, he advises children to go to the library for more information, a sly way to introduce children into the habit of using the library.

He remembers his childhood as a time when adults didn’t bother children as long as they didn’t get in trouble.

And, children had endless hours in which they were expected to entertain themselves.

Smith’s wife illustrates the book to make it easy to follow his directions.

If your grandchildren have ever fallen back on the age-old childhood refrain, “I’m bored,” this is the book you want to have handy.

But, I would follow the Parental Advisory and do these with your grandchildren. It will bring back memories of your own childhood.

Smith, who also wrote “Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing?” delights us with these step-by-step instructions on what he was doing when he went out.

Thanks, Dan Verner, for introducing me to Smith’s delightful books.

Click here if you want to order the book described in this post, “How to Do Nothing with Nobody All Alone By Yourself.”

What did you do or make when you were a kid that you would like to share with your grandchildren?

What games or toys did your grandparents teach you to make from their childhood?

To you and sharing the joys of using what comes to hand to have fun with your grandchildren.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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• Where Did You Go? Out.
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How To Do Nothing with Nobody. Book Thursday.

scrabble board game full 100 tile set (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How Many Games of Online Scrabble Do You Have Going?

Several years ago, I tried to develop a Scrabble-like game using phonetic spelling.

I wrote a 300-page dictionary of phonetically-spelled one-syllable words, knowing there would need to be a dictionary to settle disputes and that normal dictionaries only spell phonetically with special characters.

I learned that English does not need a “Q,” an “X,” or a “C.”

We have other letters that can be used to spell those sounds. They are historical anomalies.

I read Mark Twain’s spoof, “A Plan for the Improvement of Spelling.”

I met a nine-year-old boy who had already figured out that English does not need a “C.” I gave him a copy of Mark Twain’s article.

I tested my game and revised the board and rules over a year or so, working with 75 focus groups.

But, in the end, aside from the fact that it was clearly a Scrabble derivative, it just wasn’t fun to play all the way to the end.

In regular Scrabble, when you are memorizing words, at least they are words you could use in real-life. There is no such advantage to phonetic spelling.

Also, with phonetic spelling, and the substitution of numbers like one, nine and eight for whole syllables, words were shorter than their normal equivalents.

So, play got bunched in the middle of the board.

The effort has been shelved until I have time to look at it again fresh, but, along the way, I got back into Scrabble and found out which of my friends are Scrabble fanatics.

And, I found that really good Scrabble players were also really good at my game.

Language skills transfer. Teachers knew this.

My focus groups in English classes capitalized on the fact that all language play is educational, especially when it is fun.

What Does It Take to Be a Good Scrabble Player?

There is something fascinating about someone who can recall a list of 2- and 3-letter words, or words that use “Q” without a “U.”

Apparently, this skill is one of the keys to being a top Scrabble player.

And, then, a friend told me about online Scrabble. He had five games active, including one with his Mom.

Since then, I’ve run into many friends who casually mention how many Scrabble games they are involved in at the time.

Half a dozen seems to be the average.

What Does the Internet Have to Do with Scrabble?

This is how the Internet has changed the way we play Board games.

It is not just that you don’t have to be in the same place, at the same time.

It is not just that we risk losing how to interact with people in person, real-time, as when my husband and I saw recently, when we saw a young couple waiting for a meal at an outdoor café, both busy texting.

No talking.

It is that the nature of interaction has changed.

Instead of the occasional letters from his Mom, which she probably still writes, my friend gets to advance a play in Scrabble, in those previously lost moments of waiting.

And, then, check in to see if his Mom has played.

Like the articles a Mom sends, a Scrabble play is Mom and son saying to each other, “Hi, I miss you. I love you.

“I can still beat you at Scrabble.”

Do you play any online games?

Do you play friends, alone or with someone the site matches you up with?

Do you play with your grandchildren?

To you and the many ways to keep up connections across the generations.

Click here to order the old-fashioned Scrabble game to play with your grandchildren.

Click here to play with them online.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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How Many Games of Online Scrabble Do You Have Going?

Do you remember when you stopped calling your Mom “Mommy” or your Dad “Daddy”?

I don’t either.

What Do We Learn from Older Kids?

But, my six-year-old granddaughter had a recent encounter at school around this subject.

A 7-year-old at her school told my granddaughter that only 7-year-olds can call their mother “Mom.” Six-year-olds weren’t old enough.

Not one to ignore such a challenge, she tried it for a couple of weeks, then, quietly abandoned it.

I would love to know her thinking when she dropped it.

Did it just not fit?

Did she decide she could but just didn’t want to?

Did she decide she was perfectly old enough to make her own decisions and she decided not to?

My husband called his Mom “Mama” until the day she died. Is that just a Southern thing?

It turns out, names are like a lot of things in the relationship between children and their parents.

There are no rules. It is whatever children and parents are comfortable with.

In the DC Urban Moms and Dads forum, a 25-year-old woman admits that she and her 27-year-old sister still call their Mom, “Mommy,” thinking “Mom” sounds insincere.

But, in general, kids seem to switch, if they ever do, sometime between the ages of six and ten.

Click here for a range of ages posted by DC Urban Moms and Dads in answer to the question, “At what age did your child stop calling you Mommy?”

On the “Cup of Jo” blog, a 32-year-old woman who still calls her Mom, “Mommy,” was surprised that a friend was startled to hear her speak to her “Mommy” on the phone.

But, again, parents generally reported that kids had switched to Mom by the time they entered their teens.

Click here for the blog, A Cup of Jo, to read her readers comments in answer to the question, “What Do You Call Your Parents? Mama? Daddy?”

How About Grandma Names?

Even Grandma names can change. I recently talked to a Grandmother whose grandson called her “Banny” because he couldn’t yet pronounce Grandma.

When he got old enough, his mother taught him to say, “Grandma.”

“Banny” misses her grandson’s sweet, invented name.

Do your children still call you “Mommy,” or their Dad  “Daddy”?

Did you make a conscious decision to change what you called your parents when you got older, or just change without realizing it, like I did?

To you and the names that tie you to those you love.

Carol Covin, Granny-Guru

Author, “Who Gets to Name Grandma? The Wisdom of Mothers and Grandmothers”

Click here to order this blog on your Kindle.

http://newgrandmas.com

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When Does Mommy Become Mom?