Woman Refusing To Let Mom Pick Name Future Grandkids Call Her Leaves Internet Split

A woman at odds with her mother over the name she wants her future grandchildren to refer to her as instead of “grandma” has asked the internet to weigh in on this ongoing family dispute.

The 29-year-old woman and original poster (OP), user Dazzling-Nose-2781, has been thinking about starting a family, she shared on Reddit this week. With that in mind, her 50-year-old mom has stressed that she wants her grandkids to call her “honey.”

‘Sweet as honey’

According to the OP’s post, her mom wants, “Something uniquely different”, for her grandparent name, rather than simply going by grandma. To her, honey is not only “endearing,” but fitting, since she will be, “Sweet as honey to her grandkids,” the OP recalled her saying.

However, despite her mother’s enthusiasm about the name, the OP wants to explore other options.

Because, as she put it, her choice is “weird.”

“She and her husband call each other honey and I consider it a romantic pet name and think it is odd as a grandparent name,” the OP wrote in her Jan. 29 post, which racked up 7,400 upvotes and 3,800 comments in its first two days on the discussion platform.

“My siblings agree with me.

“My husband thinks we should just let her choose whatever name she wants, but I cringe every time I think about it and want us to come up with something else we all like.

“She thinks I’m being the a****** and it will be her grandchildren, so she gets to decide.”

The OP turned to the internet to see if Redditors felt similarly however, users have been divided on that.

Some users backed the OP, such as one who wrote: “That’s just weird to be honest. It seems pretty inappropriate to be calling your grandma ‘honey’. I could see why you’re not OK with that.”

Others were more critical of her specifically, including a user who chimed in: “You are making far too big of a deal over a harmless pet name that hurts nobody.

“It isn’t disrespectful, it isn’t sexual, it isn’t inappropriate outside of your own mind.”

Boomers and Gen-X

The OP’s mom isn’t alone in not wanting to go by Grandma. USA Today reported on one nationwide survey that found the baby boomer generation is, “Opting for nicknames that resonate more with their vibrant spirit and sense of individuality.”

The New York Post also covered how members of Generation X are, “Eschewing traditional grandmother labels for playful alternatives…”

Funny enough, one such grandma nickname Good Housekeeping suggests? Honey.

Still, the OP further detailed in a reply why she’s resistant to her mom using that particular name: “My parents are not overly affectionate at all.

“The only time they call each other honey is when they are being overly affectionate or kissing. That is probably why I also consider it weird.”

In an edit to her post, the OP addressed why this is even a point of contention right now, since she doesn’t have kids yet. Apparently, her mom is already referring to herself as honey—to the OP’s dog.

That draws an eye-roll from the OP, she noted, and the back-and-forth continues from there.

Easier Said Than Done

Speaking of their disagreement, another common answer in the thread was no one was in the wrong.

An individual with this take wrote: “My stepmom is honey and my dad was sugar pop. I think it’s fine, but you hate it so, maybe find a different not ‘grandma’ name you can both agree on.”

Compromise may be easier said than done, though, based on an update from the OP: “I’ve made some suggestions, like even grandma honey, but she is adamant it will only be honey. If the grandkids call her something else, she plans on correcting them and saying to call her honey.”

‘You may have saved me’

However, the OP did seem hopeful after one user brought up a sweet alternative: Lolly.

“BLESS YOU! I just read her your comment and she said, Oooh, I like Lolly,” the OP wrote back to that user, “And she can still say sweet as a lolly.

“You may have saved me [laugh out loud].”

Newsweek has contacted Dazzling-Nose-2781 for comment via Reddit.

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