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AIBU?

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

129 replies

Emerald95 · 25/02/2025 16:06

My DC (9) was talking to his MIL on the phone about his afternoon at his friend's house and said 'Then Brian took us to McDonalds!'. MIL asked who Brian was, when my DC told MIL it is his friend's dad she said it was very odd to call him by his first name, not Mr (last name).

My DCs have have always called their friend's parents by their first name or '(friends name) mum' if they don't know their name yet.

Using Mr & Mrs (last name) seems very american to me and I could only imagin my children using that if their friend's parent was also a teacher at their school.

Is this a generational difference or maybe location dependent?

What do your DCs call their friend's parents? YABU - They use Mr and Mrs (last name)
YANBU - They use their first name

OP posts:
GoodVibesHere · 25/02/2025 16:14

Pahaha no, that would be seen as very old fashioned here. My DC always said 'John's mum' or used their first nane if they knew it.

KrisAkabusi · 25/02/2025 16:12

First names only round here. Or just "Hi Dave's Mum" when they were younger and didn't know our names!

TwentyTwentyFive · 25/02/2025 16:11

By their name or if they don't know their name they say Jack's dad or Jill's mum. It's not odd at all and it feels very outdated and old-fashioned to use surnames not least because many of their friends parents don't necessarily share the same surname so Mr and Mrs Surname wouldn't be accurate.

SpanThatWorld · 25/02/2025 16:09

My kids are grown up but never used anything but first names. My friends' kids have never called me anything but my first name.

Mr and Mrs is really formal. Maybe in the 1970s