Dear Queenie,
My little grandson cannot figure out how come both his father’s mother and I (his mother’s mother) have the same name – “Grandma.”
Queenie, how do we explain this to him?—Mom’s mom
Dear Grandma,
First, you can explain to him that there are many people in the world who have the same or similar names, but that will not reduce his confusion. For one thing, he may be trying to figure out how to tell which one of you someone is talking about, or to indicate which one he is talking to or about in normal conversation.
A simple solution many people use is to refer to grandparents by title+name – “Grandma Kate” and “Grandma Mary.” Or, if both you and his other grandma happen to have the same given name, “Grandma Smith” and “Grandma Jones.”
