That awkward moment when you meet someone and you CANNOT remember their DH/DCs' names

[AlwaysSkintInFebruary]

Bumped into an old work colleague completely by chance today. She was a really lovely woman and her DH was always the sort of person to offer a lift to/from a night out or on a bad morning.

I could not remember his name, was desperately dredging my memory to try and find it and nope. Felt so so rude.

I don’t even know how I know people half the time. Know the face, often the name. But from ??
I come across as such a twat sometimes

It happens!
I'm always honest and say something like ' oh god, I can't believe my brain has stopped!!! What is your husbands name! It's gone!! They say I usually say * that was embarrassing!, I knew I knew it!' Just keep it light and honest!

I can't even remember friends' names half the time, let alone their DH or DC's. It's embarrassing. I'm blaming the menopause.

I find 'how's the family?' a good enough question if you can't remember details.

I'm terrible with names and over the years I've tried to be less terrible but I draw a blank more often than not!

If I'm really stumped I'd say something like "how are your family?" because often the reply will include their names

Its not perfect but it's worked for me.

X-post with Melting Wax

I've never been remotely offended or worried if people get my DC's names wrong or say they can't remember them; usually I'm amazed if they do remember. I usually forget their DC's names...

I like MeltingWax's suggestion

Another fan of “how’s the family”!

Remembering names can also go wrong. I bumped into someone I hadn’t seen for years who did the whole “how great to see you, how’s [xh name]?” I said “ha, not a clue we got divorced” and it was massively cringeworthy all round.