My granddaughter, Caedan, \u00a0calls me Hammy.\u00a0 For nine\u00a0 months while we waited to meet her,\u00a0 I got to choose what I’d be called.\u00a0 I chose Grammy.\u00a0 As soon as she could speak, it was Hammy.\u00a0 We could have changed it back, but why?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now she’s in kindergarten and nicknames are cool.\u00a0\u00a0 She’s taken to calling me Ham and I’m calling her Caeds.\u00a0 Occasionally it’s The Ham and\u00a0 The Caeds.<\/p>\n
When I go to L.A. to visit, we\u00a0 go to International House of Pancakes on Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana.\u00a0On the way there, in the car, she\u00a0likes to talk\u00a0about the children’s menu.\u00a0\u00a0 She always orders the same thing, but she likes\u00a0to talk about it in advance.\u00a0 Sometimes this conversation begins\u00a0the day before our IHOP date.<\/p>\n
“Ham?”<\/p>\n
“Yes Caeds.”<\/p>\n
“Know what I’m having at IHOP?”<\/p>\n
“What?”<\/p>\n
“That pancake with the face.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Create-A Face?”<\/p>\n
“Yes.\u00a0 With the\u00a0squeezy yogurt.”<\/p>\n
“No kidding.”<\/p>\n
“First I’m gonna squeeze some of that yogurt in my mouth.\u00a0Then I’m gonna put some on my pancake.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Uh huh.”<\/p>\n
“Then I’m gonna eat those bananas and strawberries on top.”<\/p>\n
“Right.”<\/p>\n
“And then I’m gonna put syrup on it and eat all the rest.”<\/p>\n
“Yum.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Ham?”<\/p>\n
“Yes?”<\/p>\n
“Ham, here’s a good idea. Why don’t you have a pancake too?”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I’m thinking about scrambled eggs.”<\/p>\n
“But if you get\u00a0a pancake like mine then you could squeeze on some yogurt.”<\/p>\n
“I think I’ll have eggs.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“And if\u00a0 you don’t use all your yogurt, maybe\u00a0I could have it.”<\/p>\n
“Tell you what, Caeds.\u00a0 I’ll think about it.”<\/p>\n
”\u00a0Ham?”<\/p>\n
“Yes Caeds.”<\/p>\n
“Are you thinking about it yet?”\u00a0<\/p>\n