[AirForceWife]

My son is 2. His gandmothers are Granny and Maw-Maw.
Lately he has been saying mom for maw-maw and even though I am correcting him, they won't. It's getting under my skin and I finally said that it might be time to switch because he's obviously getting a little mixed up. Her response, "He'll fix himself"
Um no, I'm not happy with my child calling you mom especially when I know that you won't fix it.
Am I being unreasonable?

[Superminion]

Heck no! My MIL wanted DD to call her Mom-Mom...I said no way. I am her mother. I told her that if she wanted somebody to call her Mom, to have another child of her own because mine certainly wasn't going to.

[clanter]

he may be dyslexic.... I am and people's names often escape me

If he is, it isn't a sentence of death just watch his development; most dyslexic people are smarter than average and will develop devices to remember

I have identical twin grand daughters and they know I cannot remember which one has the two freckles that disguises one from the other

[AirForceWife]

I'm not sure it's dyslexia. He had maw-maw until he went for a visit with them. A week without mom and now they're here to visit and he won't say maw-maw. I probably ticked her off when I told her she needed to change, but her other grandchildren call her grammy so why does my child need to be different?

[SnicklefritzG]

You are the mom so it's totally appropriate for you to decide who he calls "maw-maw". If he calls other people that and you want them to say something as in "oh, you're maw-maw is over there. I'm your grannie" or some other thing, that is totally appropriate.

The only thing you have to do is figure out how to let them know your feelings in a nice way.

I'm guessing that part of the OP's frustration is more about the other peoples' attitudes and feeling like she is getting blown off by some of them.

[AirForceWife]

I did try to be nice. I said he's getting us mixed up maybe it's time for you to be grammy and she was just snotty about it. I was making sure this wasn't me and I wasn't in the wrong by suggesting this.

[Superminion]

You aren't wrong. I'd be pretty pissed too.

[Bristol Bay]

Whose mother is it, yours or your husband's? If it's his, you may need to tread more lightly.

But I have to ask who decided on maw-maw? I would not want to be called that. Sorry, but that doesn't sound very affectionate. If her other grand kids call her grammy, what's the problem with that?

I have a gay friend named Scott whose ex was Curt. His niece would mix the names up and call them "cotton skirt."

[Coanteen]

I just find it funny that the grandmothers needed to have different names in the first place. It's not just the OP; my bro/SIL had their kids do the same. But they're both grandmothers...why shouldn't both be granny?

[AKB]

I would not sweat the small stuff, and to me this is definitely small stuff. Maybe I am biased because I used to occasionally mistakenly call the daughters by the dog's name. It didn't bother them because they knew I loved that dog!

[tallyho392]

he's TWO...........and gets things mixed up......go figure

it seems that sometimes kids regress in areas that we (as parents) think they have nailed, and we get all bent out of shape..............usually, it's just because they are focusing on absorbing something new, and their brain hasn't fully developed the automatic pilot program which would enable them to spit out corrct names without much thought..........

didn't you ever call a teacher "mom" at some point,when you were totally absorbed/preoccupied in something, and mom just popped out from habit?

do you really think someone will mistake his grandmother for his mother, even if he calls her "mom"?......are you threatened by his calling someone else mom?..........if it was a stepmother, i could see, but these are grndmothers who love him dearly, and probably do not see this as an issue,simply because it doesn't matter to them WHAT he calls them, as long as he is interacting with them......they probably don't veiw it as usurping your power as mom,which it seems that you do.........
he's TWO.......chill.......you will always be his mom, his primary female and caregiver...a name is just a name, it doesn't really define or diminish your role

[SnicklefritzG]

I just find it funny that the grandmothers needed to have different names in the first place. It's not just the OP; my bro/SIL had their kids do the same. But they're both grandmothers...why shouldn't both be granny?

My niece has separate names for her two grandmothers. One is "Big House Granny" (my mom who lives in a HUGE house). The other is "Puggles Granny" because she owns a dog named puggles. It works for everyone and keeps the grannies separate.

[AirForceWife]

It was her request to be called maw-maw. It's my husbands mother by the way. And yes, I don't appreciate him calling someone else mom on a repetitive basis especially someone who won't even try to fix the issue. She's the type of person who will run your life, usurping power, yep that's her. She refuses to be called grammy by him because "your mom is granny and it's too close" but yet he can call her mom? Umm I don't freaking think so!

[Jaideux]

I just find it funny that the grandmothers needed to have different names in the first place. It's not just the OP; my bro/SIL had their kids do the same. But they're both grandmothers...why shouldn't both be granny?

I like that my grandmothers have two different names. It makes it super easy to know who I'm talking about. Bonus point: Since one grandmother (and that grandfather) have, um, comical versions of a cultural word for "grandparent", my friends and anyone who married into the family all call them by their silly names.

I really really hope that the children I'm not having develop are able to some how differentiate between grandparents without having to call them "Grandma Lastname" or "Grandpa Firstname".

[EqTrainer]

I sincerely and kindly hope this remains your biggest parenting issue.

[mswillie]

Heck no! My MIL wanted DD to call her Mom-Mom...I said no way. I am her mother. I told her that if she wanted somebody to call her Mom, to have another child of her own because mine certainly wasn't going to.

Your child so what you say goes, but I'm confused about the mom-mom thing. Around here mom-mom is quite common as a name for grandmothers. My mother was mom-mom to my son, my niece, and nephew. My sister is mom-mom to her grandson. And my son and DIL encourage my grandson to call me mom-mom. They picked it, not me. Believe me, although most of the words he says right now sound like a string of mom-mom-mom-moms he knows the difference.

My DIL's mom is Mimi. I'm mom-mom. No one around here finds that at all unusual.

Do you and your MIL come from different regions of the country?

[AirForceWife]

This isn't a parenting issue so much as a how to handle the other adult in the situation (:
My son is perfectly fine doing what I request.

[Alagirl]

as one who mixes all the relations up name wise, I'd say the kid knows that maw-maw/mom-mom is not mom. You will have your battles with her, safe your thunder. You could call her by other names...Aunt Ethel...or by the dogs name.... my grandmothers...well, one was Oma, the other Grandmother....one time Grandmother called and our housekeeper told me 'it's your Oma' I was set straight by the voice on the other end lickety split! My mom is now Oma...dad's wife wanted to be Oma - which irk my mom, so we called her Oma which was fine. It turned into something funny, since she was a bit theatrical...before long she was Oma Gott - she did a pretty good Willem impression... I ma thinking she knows it ticks you off....don't let it!

[shea'smom]

Be grateful you have a healthy child and don't sweat this small issue.Venting is ok, but really, it will sort itself out.

[Dreamwalker]

While it will probably sort itself out, I see it as being part of a bigger problem. Your MIL likes to undermine you by making decisions that aren't hers to make, then trivializing your reaction to it. So I suggest reading Toxic Inlaws and planning strategies for the rest of your life. It's the constant little problems that make some people hard to deal with...if it was one big nasty blow-up you could say 'see she's awful'... but the slow digging away makes seem like you are over-reacting when you finally lose it at her for something quite little when really it's the all the things piled on together