Grandpa, Nanna, and Twinkie...wait, did you just call her Twinkie?

We're approaching a very important stage of the baby Squid process: 

The Naming of the Grandparents

I think one of my favorite parts of telling my parents that we were pregnant was referring to my Dad as "Grandpa" at dinner that night.  It was actually quite hilarious because every time I said it, he'd quickly reply "I'm not sure if I like the sound of that."  And trust me, he was not implying that he's not excited to be a Grandpa...he was simply expressing that being called Grandpa sounded so OLD to him.  

And trust me, my parents are anything but old.  Without giving away too much information, let me just say that I'm 26, my brother is 28, and they were young parents. More importantly, however, they act like they're stuck in their 20's or 30's, so the names 'Grandpa' and 'Grandma' don't necessarily sit well with them.  I mean, do these look like the stereotypical Grandparents to you? I think not.

So we need to come up with a solution for our dilemma here.  Earlier today I figured I'd start with Google - Google should have some ideas, right?  Well, yes...Google was pretty helpful.  When I typed in "Grandparent Names," I came across The Ultimate Guide to Grandparent Names. 

Amazing. 

What's even more amazing is that I have never seen a more comprehensive list of wacky oddball names to call Grandparents.  

I was immediately drawn to the category of "Playful" thinking those names may be more appropriate for my young parents, but what I quickly came to learn is that "Playful" in Grandparent World must also mean "Ridiculously Weird and/or Inappropriate." 

Some of my favs for Ladies:

1. Twinkie
2. Moo-Moo
3. Uddermudder

The first two just seem like constant reminders of what Grandma should or shouldn't be eating...and the third, well, the third is like 15,000 times harder to say than "Grandma" so I'm not really sure how that one would catch on with the babies (not to mention the fact that once that kid turns 4, I'm pretty sure they won't want to be calling Grandma "Uddermudder" in public anymore)... I'm just saying...

Some of my favs for the Dudes:

1. HeeHaw (really?)
2. Tank
3. UmPaPa

I'm not sure if these are much better than the Grandma names.  All I know is that if my kids called my Dad UmPaPa, I feel like we'd have to hire a band each time he came to visit so that the kids could perform a choreographed song and dance...UmPaPa, UmPaPa...Um...no thanks.

At the end of the day, I think we're just going to have to leave this task up to our parents. Mom and Dad, you can use this guide as your starting point...just know that we'll want to approve your chosen names before Squid starts calling you HeeHaw and Twinkie. I don't know about you, but I don't think that's too much to ask...