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Grandparenting

Have you heard of a Nana nap?

(99 Posts)
Yammy Thu 15-Dec-22 14:45:57

Just that really. Yesterday I was caught slepping at about 5 pm, the engineer who had called said "Were you having a Nana nap?"I had never heard the expression and wondered if anyone else had. With this housebound weather, I seem to be having quite a few.
Our GC have lived abroad and say what sounds like Grandpaw and Grandmaw so I suppose I was having a grandmaw nap, it doesn't sound as cute somehow. blush

GreenGran78 Sun 18-Dec-22 12:48:34

I've known the expression for quite a long time. Not sure where it originates from.
I occasionally feel like an afternoon nap, bit know that, if I do, I will wake up feeling horrible. I also know that it will affect my sleep that night, so if I begin to feel sleepy during the day I find something to occupy myself with until the feeling wears off.

BlueBelle Sun 18-Dec-22 12:38:04

CAT NAPS for me
Oh well I can nap for England since about the age of 40/50 I can nap in the train, on the bus, at home as soon as I sit down I m off I ve always called them ‘cat naps’
My auntie was a great one for cat naps she s the only one in the family that was, so I must take after her
I can nap for an hour get up and go to bed and fall asleep again (not for the full night though)
Not saying anything about lazy because we re all different but being in bed till 10 or 11 am I d have to be really really ill or in hospital for that I m up by 7 latest every day

Rosina Sun 18-Dec-22 12:34:35

A bad idea for me. Sometimes I can feel the lids drooping, so I shut my eyes for about ten minutes - having asked Alexa to wake me - and that seems to fix the problem. If I do have a 'Nanna Nap' - lovely expression - I then can't sleep well.

Missiseff Sun 18-Dec-22 12:27:42

Yes

Harris27 Sun 18-Dec-22 12:27:20

I have one about 7pm as I nod off after being at work. Does me the world of good.

Sawsage2 Sun 18-Dec-22 12:23:27

I go to bed 1-2am and get up 10-11am but people treat me as being lazy, which I certainly am not, Christmas ready, house decorated and done. I don't nap at all.

Yammy Sun 18-Dec-22 12:14:13

You might have solved linguistic and regional names for grandparents for me grandtante.
I come from the far west of Cumbria and we all have quite a bit of Viking DNA. I think I said in my post that we said mother and father for our grandparents and it had been done for generations. I wonder if it originated as morfar. A lot of our words are Viking,fell.& beck being two of them. I once used Cumbrian words with some Icelanders and their pronunciation was nearly the same. We were meant to have been taken to Iceland along with the Irish as slaves.

grandtanteJE65 Sun 18-Dec-22 12:00:41

I hadn't heard the English expression, but found it immediately comprehensible.

In Danish it is called a "moffer" which was originally some child's way of saying "morfar", which literally means Mummy's Daddy and is the most usual way of referring to your maternal grandfather, who was obviously the person in that family who took sudden naps.

For those interested in languages the other grandparents are mormor (mummy's mummy) farfar - daddy's daddy and farmor - daddy's mummy,.

There is also bedstemor and bedstefar, which can be used of either parent's parents. We distinguish between aunts and uncles in the same way.

Connor13 Sun 18-Dec-22 11:43:07

Yes used to have one in afternoon after working early morning 😌

Nantotwo Sun 18-Dec-22 11:39:38

Heard of it, used the expression and think it's a fun way of describing it.

Glenco Sun 18-Dec-22 11:37:43

I regularly have Nana naps - often the best part of the day!

HeavenLeigh Sun 18-Dec-22 11:35:39

Yes I’ve known about it for years, I’ve never had one though, maybe I should

Anotherbee Sun 18-Dec-22 11:33:23

I can be working on a piece of crochet and fall asleep mid stitch, I then wake up an hour or so later and just carry on as if I hadn’t stopped. I love my nanna naps or siestas as I call them 😴

DillytheGardener Sun 18-Dec-22 11:31:03

My son lives in NZ and they also use the phrase ‘nanna nap’ mainly when he’s wiped from my GC 😂

Barb22 Sun 18-Dec-22 11:29:24

Definitely yes, very popular in our family

Silverlady333 Sun 18-Dec-22 11:29:16

Yes they are called power naps in my house too.
I used to be amused by my older sister who came home from work and curled up on the rug in front of the fire like a dog to have a power nap. I usually have one sitting on the sofa. It literally recharges your batteries for the rest of the day.

nexus63 Sun 18-Dec-22 11:29:00

i am scottish and we call it a granny nap, meaning having a sleep during the day either on the couch or in the chair, it just allows me to stay up a bit later at night, my dad has lived in england for 40 years and he still calls it a granny nap.

DeeDe Sun 18-Dec-22 11:27:55

Yes definitely, I don’t often, but my daughter does since not working, she even has a nap pillow
That makes me feel really old

Mollygirl Sun 18-Dec-22 11:24:29

Yes in Australia we often refer to “having a Nana nap” if we fall asleep watching television or just have a short sleep in the lounge chair. It’s a saying I have grown up hearing frequently and guess I assumed most people knew what it meant.

GrammaH Sun 18-Dec-22 11:18:32

Yes, I've heard the term but don't use it - I'm a Gramma! However, I confess to enjoying a nana nap quite often, especially when I'm sitting in front of the logburner, listening to the radio. Can't beat it!

Peaseblossom Sun 18-Dec-22 11:16:41

I struggle to sleep at night, let alone having naps during the day. I was awake till 5 am last night and I’m just getting up at 11:15, but I’d like to stay in bed longer. I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night, but it was decades ago, at least 25 years. It’s so draining and depressing. I envy those people who can fall asleep quickly.

Norah Fri 16-Dec-22 14:36:42

Never heard the term, anyway - nobody would say such about me.

Callistemon21 Fri 16-Dec-22 10:05:31

😂😂😂

I used to have to chat to Kevin McCloud for company

Yammy Fri 16-Dec-22 10:00:32

Callistemon21

nanna8

Nanna naps are well known here in Oz. Not sure what you call the Granddad ones seeing as they nap all the time in my experience. I don’t know how they do it but most males seem to be able to sleep bolt upright ,anytime, anyplace.

They also manage to watch television with their eyes closed, even snoring gently, but open them instantly if you change channels, saying indignantly "I was watching that!!"

Especially if it is cricket or soccer. DH never sleeps through the rugby he is too busy trying to get into the T.V. onto the pitch. He power naps which are always denied right after lunch sitting up right mouth open snoring.

Franbern Fri 16-Dec-22 08:42:03

I can remember reading somewhere, sometime that it is far more natural for humans to a have a sleep in the afternoon for a short time and not just one long sleep at night.

I have used ;power; naps on my li ving room chair fr along utime. Even when I was still working, wojld have one when I first got home.

Now, in my 80's, I find that having a meal (even a very small one), does mean that I find my eyes closing shortly afterwards. So, I have a power nap (approx 30-40 mins) early afternoon, and a further one (approx 20 minutes), early evening. I find I sleep better at night when I have had these power naps.