"I'VE GOT YOU BABE"

How many pet names do you recall from your family? The ones of your fur babies are not the question. Instead, I am referring to the monikers of endearment for close humans.

My husband and I use “Babe,” my in-laws used “Dear,” my brother went with “Hon,” my parents had none. It was a “pet” peeve with my mother. “What’s with the … (fill in the blank with whatever pet name used) all about," she would snark.

While in the shower, the thought came to me, well, it’s where many of my writing ideas formulate, and I began to question myself. Since my husband and I became grandparents, do we signal each other by our pet name “Babe” as much anymore? Do our children think of our pet name? How long were we dating before we started to call each other “Babe?” Which one of us coined it?

Possibly, now we tend to use “Grandma,” or “Zaidy,” instead of the age-old “Babe.” I chose “Grandma” for my hierarchal insignia, whereas my husband went with the Yiddish term of endearment for Grandfather, Zaidy. Are you wondering why I didn’t choose the female Yiddish equivalent, Bubbie? That sounded like an Alta Bubba (old lady) to me, which resonates more as the moniker for a great-grandmother.

Furthermore, I was open to allowing our grandchildren to choose which name they wanted to call me. My mother, for example, became known as Tottoo to everyone. That was after our firstborn would answer the telephone at 18- months of age and distinguish his two grandmothers by referring to my mother as “that Tottoo grandma.” My mother was the one calling him Tatellah, referring to him in Yiddish as “little man.”

Watch, before this even has a chance to post, it will come up as a topic on a Facebook page. Not only my husband, but Siri often reads my mind. I, however, cannot read minds. Therefore, in the comments below, write in your pet name, or one you often hear or heard in your household. Let’s see how many various “human pet” names are out there. It will also be fun to know how many couples prefer “Babe.”

Sharon and Arnee June 15, 1975

1990 - Judd is a little over two-years-old in this snapshot talking on the phone, probably to “that Tottoo grandma”