By Zayaan Schroeder Mollagee
When my son was born he was the 22nd grandchild on my husband's side - they are a big family! So the grandparents had well established names that their grandchildren called them by (even though my husband's father has passed on - I still speak about him so as to keep his memory alive for my son).
But being the first grandchild on my side of the family meant that my parents could choose names for themselves. This was a bad idea because for some reason my mother detests plain old "Ma" while my dad is fine to be known as Pa. I don't know how she expected a child who was learning to talk and having trouble with simple words like ball would to be able to pronounce Umm Zayaan (Arabic meaning Mother of Zayaan). But I think she just wanted something that stood out the way she does.
Elle from What's Up Moms has some great tips if you find yourself in this situation:
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