Do your DC call their friend's parents Mr and Mrs (last name)?

First time they came over they all automatically said mr and Mrs x. And in school it would be hello Mrs x. I loved it. But second visit asked them to use my name. Private school, north west England.

I’m 48 and we called friends parents by their first names. My Nanna called all her friends Mrs Jones, or Ada Morris, never Ada or Gwen. I thought it was odd, and always called them the same. But we never called our friend’s parents Mrs Hope etc. I often used to say to my friend’s kids ‘you can call me Jane’ if they called me Ben’s mum.

Cannot imagine anyone introducing themselves as Mr or Mrs, even when I was young in the 80s and 90s we called friends parents by their first names.... I think the only people who me Mrs Doughnut are customer service operatives when I complain about something!

On the estate I grew up on in the 1960s-70s it was always first names although this may have been unusual. Visiting primary school friends would call my mum Mrs X; I would guess they had been told by their parents they must do to be polite. But my mum disliked being called that; she once said that Mrs X never did anything worthwhile, though P. (first name) did. (But even she was disconcerted in the 1990s when her bank rang up and called her P. but took my point when I reminded her what she'd said.) At secondary school I had one friend who was exaggeratedly formal about this and at one outside body we both belonged to called all the adult organisers Mr/Mrs X, although I know it would have been fine to use first names; I did. After I went to university he happened to meet my mum socially and called her Mrs X. She replied 'I'm P.'. When addressing friends' parents I used first names if the friends were neighbours on the estate; if not I largely avoided using names at all. In my experience children nowadays do address friends' parents by their first names. I think this is a good thing. Some friends of my mum's became friends of mine too; I think it is good for children to feel that that is so; and I remained friends with many of these people so after my mum died.

Ah that reminds me of when my DD was little and her little friends were constantly in my house (all 6 and under) and they didn't speak English but they copied my DD when she called me mummy, so I had all these small children calling me mummy and I loved it.

I'm in my 40s, growing up in the north in a fairly working class area it was usually mr/Mrs x or aunty/uncle y for close family friends

I'm 46 and never called a friend's parent Mr or Mrs in the 80s. No one did. I find it so jarring on US tv shows when kids do that.

Growing up I called most of my friend’s parents Mr and Mrs Surname, but my children call their friend’s parents either by their first name or X’s Mum/Dad. Think calling people by title and surname is quite old hat now. I’m a late 80’s baby.

Yh bc the British lack manners lol. I think it's a mark of respect towards ur elders, but I get the British culture isn't very much in favour of that.
Especially with this generation now, they are so rude, lack good manners, addressing ppl with respect will teach them a thing or two

I grew up in 60’s/70’s. My friends parents were Auntie Firstname and Uncle Firstname

Would those who want to be addressed by Title Surname expect a child to ask when they dont know, given that one can't assume it's Mrs Childs Surname these days, and if so at what age do you think that kicks in?

I grew up in the 80s and it was definitely Mr/Mrs/title + surname unless or until invited to use their given names, which in most cases was as an older teen. My DS (16) were also brought up to use Mr/Mrs/title + surname until invited to use first names, and although I've never specified what DS' friends should call me, it's generally not been Floriat. In the past year or so when school friends come to stay I've tended to invite them to be less formal but it would catch me by surprise when a 13 or 14 year old did this.
A much younger pp mentioned advice about anyone more than 10 years older- for me, that's a good rule of thumb.
For me it's not so much about formality and more about recognising that adults are figures of authority and responsibility, not friends on equal terms. I believe it's reassuring to children to understand that the adults are in charge.

Mr and Mrs Patterson obviously! 🤣💕

I find they used to say "Excuse me Jack's mum" and then I'd say "please feel free to call me LaPalma" . They'd rarely call me Mrs Llama though. When I was a kid, we'd always say Mr X and Mrs X until they told you to use their first name which they generally did.

I’ve just remembered that as teenagers, my close friends and I called each other’s mums “Mum”.

My kids might use Mr/Ms Surname if they don't know their first name (or possibly the "[George's] mum/dad" if they don't know last name either). But would use first names by default if they know them. And my kids' friends do the same to me. I, like every parent I know, always say "call me [first name]" immediately as no one I know likes being called Mr/Ms Surname unless there's a reason for some degree of frostiness.

This was mainly the case growing up in the 80s once I was about 12yrs old too, though a few parents were still very much the Mr/Mrs. (never Ms!) type and Aunty X was the go-to way of calling an adult family friend when I was younger. While I noted parents who insisted on Mr/Mrs. and tried to avoid them (they tended to be somewhat officious and judgmental compared to others) I actually tended to call parents Mr./Ms. anyway as hard remembering their first names when I used them infrequently.

Neither.

My DC are in their twenties now but their mates still call me “Luke’s Mum” even to my face 😂

Yes of course. It’s a mark of respect. I think it’s a class thing. I would always have called my friends parents Mr and Mrs X and my children do that now. Unless they knew them very very well in which case, if the parent has said it’s fine to call me by their first name, it would be fine to comply

I'm quite sad to hear it's first names only now. Purely because I love the Kevin and Perry sketches and they just wouldn't be the same without Perry saying hello to Mr and Mrs Patterson formally.

But I’m in my 60s and my friends and I all called one another’s parents by their first names. Are you much older than me? I suspect it was more formal in my mother’s era. Although even then, there were 3 unmarried sisters who were similar age to my grandmother who lived next door to her. I was introduced to them by their first names and I only remember my mum ever calling them by their first names.

My kids have always called friend's parents by their 1st name or x's mum/dad.

When I was growing up though I called everyone Mr or Mrs X,. I still can't get used to calling my parent's neighbours by their 1st names

It's first names for the more approachable parents and "Max's mum" or "Alana's dad" if they don't know your name or don't feel comfortable using it. A lot of "MiniCrispieCake's Mum, can MiniCrispieCake come round to play?".

I'm used to it now after years of being called "Mum" at baby groups, toddler classes and medical appointments. "Maybe if Mum could open her mouth wide and show MiniCrispieCake what to do?" But it does make me feel a little bit like an appendage to my child rather than an individual in my own right 😂.

I was alway known as first name or Mrs B, a reference to the fact that I kept bee hives locally

But I'm 70+, my kids are in their 40s and for us and in my friendship group it wasn't like that?

So...

Yes, indeed. Ma'am and Sir are still alive and well in the Southern US.