Using Mom instead of Mum

[itsonlysubterfuge]

DD is English, but has my American accent and calls me Mom, which I like and prefer. We have decided to homeschool her for right now, she is 3, born in July. The plan is for her to eventually move to a primary school. I've been getting my lesson plans together and preparing the supplies and things I will need and I came upon using Mum vs Mom. My DH thinks we should teach her Mum because that is what they will use in school, but I think we should use Mom because that is how she says it and what I like to be called.

If she goes to school will she be told she is wrong for using Mom and be "corrected"? If they are making Mother's Day cards or talking about Mothers will she forced to use Mum?

[DoItTooJulia]

Well, I'm from a part of the U.K. Where we say mom not mum.

I doesn't matter. Ds has a friend from a part of the country that says mam. I call my mom momma. It's never mattered. Honestly.

[EdithWeston]

No, there won't be a problem in the slightest, because although 'mum' is the commonest short form in Britain, there are whole swathes of the country where 'mom' is the local usage (centuries old - the version that was exported to the US), plus of course children who say 'ma' or 'mam' or various other forms.

They'll use 'mother' in more formal writing idc of course, and will use either Mothering Sunday or Mothers Day for that celebration.

[5tardusty]

I cannot imagine a scenario where your child would be told to call you something different. I live in the North, so many children use Mam, Mammy etc. I can't see it being a problem at all

[sleepwhenidie]

Ha, in my DC's primary school there are over 20 languages spoken at home by the DC's, (not to mention the fact that Mom is used in the for eg the Midlands, Mam in Wales, etc etc - pretty sure there's a whole array of different versions of mum on their Mother's Day cards, really, don't sweat it .

[ScarlettDarling]

No school would ever 'force' a child to call their mum something different. In my y2 class the children say mam, mammy, mum, mummy...and I don't think anything of it. It's their name for their mum!

[merrymouse]

Everyone knows about Mum/Mam/Mom. It's like Gran/Nan/Granny and Grandpa/Grandad. There isn't a right or wrong form.

[BaggiesBaggies]

Move to the Midlands! Mom is used there, she'll fit right in

What you'll probably find is a bit of changing to accommodate each situation, in future, where she may talk about 'my mum' if in a school where that's what the others say, but revert to Mom when she gets home and talks to you. Children are very adept at this. I get called Mum (not in my native region these days) but still call my mother Mom though I refer to her as 'my mum' to others. So I would use the form you like, and the rest will work itself out.

[YoureAllABunchOfBastards]

I live in an area where we say Mam, with a DH from the Midlands who refers to me when talking to the kids as Mom. At school they generally write Mum, but the kids say Muuuum/Moooom in a weird hybrid Brummie/NorthEast accent.

[Rinceoir]

My 2 year old calls me Mammy (we are Irish). Nursery seem to think she is mispronouncing mummy but they don't mind or correct her.

[Gryla]

Move to the Midlands! Mom is used there, she'll fit right in

Where I grew up in the Midlands it was Mum - from mummy when younger. Where DH grew up in another part of the midland - more northern but still Midlands and it's mam.

My children have lived in three different locations with very different accents and have encountered many people speaking different accents have encountered different words used by people in different locations. Honestly it's a none issue.


They'll probably copy the children round them when the start school - so will pick up whatever is in use but equally they may not.

Only issue we've had is with one of my children's name - last place we lived have a strange local pronouncement sounding me as may in just this name. We gave up in end trying to correct it - we said me everyone else said may then often struggled to spell it correctly.

[Gryla]

I also think lesson planning at three seems wrong - nursery rhymes, counting every day things, baking and lots reading and just exploring - we also did number jacks and alpha blocks and jolly phonics but as tv watching and fun things.

[Purplebluebird]

Use mom if you want to, we're using mamma :)

[VulcanWoman]

It's the Black country in the Midlands that uses Mom isn't it.

[Gryla]

resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/blog/2006/04/mum-and-mom.html

This suggests west Midlands - though I grew up right on the boarder between west and east and we said Mum though my Mum said Mum and she was from more South Midlands originally.

Though now I think Dad family and Dad is from black country and thinking about it they say mom and I have grown up with that as well just never applied it to my Mum.

So my children regularly hear Mum, Mam and Mom within their own family. It's never been an issue they say Mum - as I do. My children get more worked up by our different usage for words for bread rolls within the family - that really amuses them.

[Gryla]

Sorry read that back.

I do know that black country is west Midlands (though I think it's a certain part of west Midlands I'm a bit shaky on how big an area black country is )- though I seem to be implying otherwise above.

[itsonlysubterfuge]

Thanks all. I'm glad to know that it shouldn't matter. I think we will use Mom since that is what she is most familiar with and it will be easier for her to learn to read/spell the word.

As far as lesson plans go, like I said, she is turning 4 in July and suppose to be going to reception, but we are homeschooling instead. The lesson plans are for me to help keep me motivated and have a sense of what I'm doing. I imagine that in reception they will be using lesson plans to help them, I don't see the big deal of me doing it.

[longdiling]

My kids call me mum but we live in Wales so everyone else uses Mam/Mammy. They do indeed come home with Mother's day cards with Mammy written on them. I've never worried too much about it, I just assume they are copying friends or when little and the teachers are helping them the teachers have assumed Mammy and my kids haven't corrected them.

[littleducks]

My kids call me Mumma/Mama but my 2 year old talks about 'my mummy' at nursery.

[swampytiggaa]

I use mom. I'm from the black country :) although we live in north Devon now.

[TitaniumSpider]

My father is from Worcestershire and Mum was from Herefordshire and they both used Mom. Dsis teaches in the Midlands and she's told that Mom must be corrected to Mum because it's wrong as it''s an Americanism

[CodyKing]

Where I grew up in the Midlands it was Mum

Arr That'll be t posh end then bab?

[Owllady]

I have a mom
I'm mum though

[donadumaurier]

When I was in about year 1 I was told I was spelling 'grandpa' wrong. I have always called my grandfather by the name for grandfather in his first language, which to be fair does look like a misspelling of 'grandpa' to anyone who isn't familiar with it. My mum went in to explain and it was never a problem again. Stick with Mom if that's what you prefer. She will be fine.