DEAR ABBY: We have five grandchildren. All but one call me MeeMaw. I've been MeeMaw since my first grandchild was born 15 years ago. Four years ago, our third grandchild was born, and the fourth arrived the next month. This fourth grandchild was calling me MeeMaw until one day when she started calling me MeeMawMeeMaw, which my child's spouse told me "started out of the blue."
It soon became apparent this grandchild was being told to do it. This is the first grandchild for her other grandmother, who has decided she is going to be called MeeMaw and I would not be.
At first, I tried to let it go, but as time goes on, it's really bothering me. It would have been fine for us both to be MeeMaw, but I think it's wrong for someone to tell my grandchild they can't call me what I've been called for many years and what all my other grandchildren call me.
I don't want to cause problems, but this is causing me great stress. What should I do, or how can I get through this? I have been given a nickname that I didn't ask for and that I don't like. -- RENAMED IN NEW ENGLAND
DEAR RENAMED: Lady, you have FIVE grandchildren; the other grandmother has only ONE. If it's important to her that this child calls only her MeeMaw, be generous. Let her have the honor. It won't mean the child has less love for you. In the words of Shakespeare, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
P.S. "MeeMawMeeMaw" is quite a mouthful. It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that, in time, the kid will shorten it by one MeeMaw.
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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
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