The Naming

The first grandchild certainly begets a frenzy of excitement in many facets of family life, not the least of which involves names. And not just the obvious naming of the new child, but the question of what each family member will be called in relation to that child. I was very specific about the pronunciation of my name as a brand new aunt -- "it is AWNtie Jill," I'd explain, "like with a Boston accent." This was my pretentious attempt to claim some of my mom's background for my own. I remember my mom taking weeks, nay months, to decide upon her name as a grandmother, probably loosing many hours of sleep muttering, "Grams...no...GiGi...nope...Granny...oh no..." My dad was the only one who had it easy -- Trenton named him Big Papa as a differentiation from his other grandfather, Papa.

Now the Burns clan has embarked on the same self-naming exercise, and so far we've got some real winners in my opinion: Auntie Bomb (notice double meaning), Auntie Ridgey (rolls off the tongue), and Auntie Molly (as a differentiation from her own Aunt Molly). For a while it looked like Becky and Jim were going for the classic "Grandma and Grandpa," but are now considering spicier options. When the dust settles, Archer might just go ahead and name them himself -- you never know.

Call us crazy, but I think Phil and I are going with Mom and Dad.