Oh, jeez, Nonni.
Get a freakin’ grip.
I remember a time when I was very young, one of six children clamoring around my Mom. I remember her barking at us all, “Stop yelling “Mom”! Stop, you’re making me crazy!!!! I’m gonna change my name and not tell you what the new one is!”
At the time, afraid that my Mom was about to disappear on us, my siblings and I cried and moaned and tried to guess her new name. It was pretty harrowing.
Of course, I now realize that the entire time as we were crying and guessing her new name, we were all yelling, “Mom? Momma? Mommy! Ma! Mom! MOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!”
Still, I thought she was being just a tiny bit heartless.
Hahahahahahahaha!
Silly me.
While I have no clear recollection of feeling the same way about my own children, I now fully understand my Mother’s frustration at hearing her name called out roughly 987,675 times a day.
And this is where the whole grandparent thing gets weird.
I will never ever ever forget the first time that my sweet Ellie looked up at me with those melting brown eyes and said, “Na. Na ee.” My heart rate jumped right up to about 300 and I almost stopped breathing. “She said ‘Nonni!!!’ She said it! She said ‘Nonni”!!!”
Thrilled is way way way way way too weak a word for the joy that coursed through my bloodstream! Huzzah!!! She KNEW me! She recognized the key and unforgettable role that I was playing in her life! We were bonded forever, me and my girl! Oh happy, happy day!!!!!
You get the picture.
And it has only been the past month or so that little Johnny has started to use my name. He, for reasons that nobody can explain, talks like a little old Italian man. Like more than one of my old uncles, in fact. When he wants a snack, he asks for “cheese-a”. To answer the question “Who wants a snack?” he answers “Me-a!”
So of course, he calls me Nonna. With the long ‘nnn’ that marks a good Italian accent.
‘Nonna’
Si, that’s me! La Nonna!
Picture the same heart stopping joy and delusional beliefs of eternal love that I felt when Ellie first called out to me.
Yup.
Happy, happy old Nonni/Nonna. Happy and joyful me-a!
Sure. For the first nine million times.
The problem is this: Ellie has learned to use the phrase, “But, Nonni….” to open every single comment. If she is asking me a question, it’s “But, Nonni, what part of our body helps us to chew?” If she needs something, she says, “But, Nonni, can I have milk?” To tell me about her weekend, “But, Nonni, we had so much fun with Grammy and Grampy.”
“But, Nonni……?” Over and over and over again. All day. Every day. ALL WEEK.
Even if I’m looking right at her, and we are the only two humans awake in the room. Even if I just said to her, “Honey, maybe we can do some art.” Even then, her first words are, “But, Nonni……….”
There are moments when I am sure that my head will explode.
Then sweet little Johnny, our man of few words, reaches out his arms to me. “Nonna?” He’ll ask, “Up? Arms?”
And I melt again.
Mom, I’m sorry for making you pretend that your name was Rumplestiltskin. I had no idea.
Love,
A Grandmother to be named later
Empty Nest, Full Life 
It’s funny, whenever I hear a kid yell ‘muuum’ I look round… you get programmed to respond. Grandkids sound very sweet ☺
LikeLike
So true!!!!
LikeLike
Another sweet one…
LikeLike
I love the sound of it……even when it makes me nuts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Whatshername,
Thank you for the heart warming story.
Hope you get the identity crises fixed soon.
Sincerely,
That other blog follower
LikeLike
Hahahaha!!! Oh, my….. Today both kids were sick, and I was so happy to hear both of them calling me….”Nonni?….”Nonna”…..? Whatever they call me, what I hear is “We need you!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I loved hearing mom, but there are times I’d like to eliminate it from the lexicon…
LikeLike
Aymen!!!! My poor mother….six of us calling her all day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahhhh!!
LikeLike
Right? It’s amazing to me that at 89 she still loves us!
LikeLiked by 1 person
💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
LikeLike
I don’t recall being annoyed with hearing my name repeated incessantly…but I do remember being irritated on occasion when the kids kept saying “watch, watch” when they were learning to swim and dive…it was too short-lived, I now realize, and I’d love to hear “watch, watch” spoken by those sweet little voices once again. Enjoy these fleeting moments. They’ll be gone before you know it….
LikeLike
I know…I really do! There are just these moments, as I try to finally make myself a quick, healthy lunch, when the repeated “but, Nonni…..” makes me want to shriek.
LikeLike
I don’t think we truly understand our parents until we have children (and grandchildren) of our own. We do love them and treasure every minute with them, but that doesn’t mean our nerves are frazzled now and then! And nothing wrong with that, either….at least we are showing them what it means to be fully human!
LikeLike
Very true!!! Yesterday Ellie asked me, “Nonni, are you a little cranky today?
LikeLike
super cute
LikeLike
I love this ohh I know .. my son was good at calling out mommy over and over then as he got older it was mooom and now mother but not so much any more lol . My daughter well she would yell mom and if she didn’t get my attention it was a gut wrenching scream .. this high pitch . Oh my I locked myself out of the house to go out for a second for a break onto the porch and able to see in at her in the playpen at 2, so she was safe . Let’s just say she stopped and puzzled at the sight of her frantic mom who was on the phone with her mom who told me to go on porch for a break lol thankfully I had a phone . So would of been better to hear mom more .. or maybe 🙂
LikeLike