I NEVER say the right DC's name

[sleepfortheweek]

Tell me I'm not alone!

We used to laugh/roll our eyes at my mum as there was four of us and she would sometimes only get our names right on the 4th go - 5th sometimes as she would often include the dog 🤣 but now I'm the exact same and it's so frustrating!

I have two DDs, let's call them Charlotte and Nancy, and a Dog (let's call her Het). It happens especially if I'm telling them not to do something - but almost always goes something like this

If trying to shout for DD1s attention :

Nan - Je - CHARLOTTE!

If trying to get attention ofDD2 :

Char - NANCY!

Shouting at the dog :

Char - Nan - JET!

Even my husband gets called DDs names sometimes 🙈

It makes me so MAD but it's getting worse!

My mum did this, there were four of us, we took the piss out of her so much for it

Yep all the time. my mum used to do it with me and my sister too.

@yeOldeTrout

DC went to same primary school. Younger DC often got called by each other's names by teachers who had taught the older ones. Never bothered me or DC. The whole class would howl the correct name back at one teacher who did this to DC4.

Oh yes! My sister had left secondary school 2 years before I started and the teachers still called me her name!

I'm one of four and my parents definitely used to mix us up. As he got older my father often introduced us to people by saying something like 'this is my number 3.'

I have two children and I don't usually get them wrong but I have started recently do referring to one by my sister's name (or vice versa). In my defence, their names start with with same letter and vowel sound (like eg Lucy and Louise).

I feel bad reading this thread as I really judge my MIL for doing this as it just feels lazy. She cycles through all of her children and previous pets names before landing on the right child - they're all over 30. In fairness both my PIL also call me by DHs ex names going back 15+ years too, we've been together for 8

I do this plenty, and my dad once turned round, looked directly at me, and said “Ah, Thomas”

I go for One, Two and Three. It makes it much easier, and it makes the dc laugh too.

This post has made me feel so much better I do this all the time!! 3 dds and a dog also a girl. I thought i was going mad!

At least you have 2 daughters. Less obvious if people over hear. I have DD and DS - always getting the names wrong. Either that or call DS by my brothers name. That happens a lot too.

I do this with the cats too.
My DM did it all the time. I was called Stewart for years (DB).

@TheBitchOfTheVicar

Apparently it is something about these names occupying the same area in your brain because they have the same associations ie they are loved ones

Oh that's interesting. Weve got two cats and I never say their names instead of dh/ds. However we've recently got a puppy and I've suddenly started saying his name rather than ds. I love our puppy whereas I'm.fairly indifferent to the cats!

My mother is forever calling me by the name of her best friend. She never call me my sister's name and never calls my sister by best friends name, just me.

If I have my time again, I'm calling all my children "Child".

One of my DC reminds me so much of my brother. When they're together I call them both the same name, I can't help it. It does look like I don't know my own child's name though!

I've only got one and I get his wrong too!

Haha thanks everyone - I feel a bit better now 🤣

I'm one of four and my Dad always used to do this which drove me nuts. I have 2 dd's and lots of rabbits and hamsters. This morning I shouted at one of the rabbits (she was climbing on to the furniture where she shouldn't be) and called her dd 2's name. Dd2 wasn't impressed!
When my MIL was in a care home, she called everyone 'Darling' as she couldn't remember their names.

My DCs answer to all kinds of things
I'll blurt out the last name that went through my head.

Fortunately we don't have pets. DM would go through about 7 or 8 names of various relatives and species before getting to me!

At least at school when the teachers muddle them up, they are used to it. They are very clearly siblings!

I'm so relieved it's not just me does this!

My grandma used to do this, then my mum did (still does), and now I do it to my DC .

Sometimes to avoid embarrassing myself I just say 'Child' or 'My girl' or 'Girls'. (My grandad used to use this strategy.)
There's no reason I should get confused, I chose the flipping names after all, but I still do. Perhaps it's genetic 😂.

DD said 'dada' about 8 months before 'mama'. I now realise that this is because she really meant 'parent' - she'll regularly look at me and say dad (and vice versa). No one has ever struggled to tell me and DH apart.

My mum used to get me and my siblings mixed up regularly, so I wonder if there's a hereditary aspect. I've only got one DC, so not got to test myself (though I was able to distinguish my parents.....)

I've called DS by the cat's name and also, more embarrassingly, "Dad" as if DH was there. He was not, and the cat looked sniffy as well.

DS merely raised an eyebrow I've told him "once I was as young as you" (which also gets rolled out when he shows me he can hook his foot behind his neck).

I had a boyfriend once whose mum used to go through all the kids' names and then through all the dogs' names before getting the right one. There were lots of kids and lots of dogs, so you could be waiting to see who she meant for a while...

My niece called me "Granny" once. I was not impressed.

@mynameiscalypso

I often call my DS my brother's name when I'm cross with him. I think I got so used to being annoyed by my brother as a child that it's a habit now!

I had no idea others do this too! Often call my eldest DD (definitely the most challenging of my DC) my sister's name. Must be because they're both very annoying at times

I was frequently called by my name preceded by the first syllables of my older sisters' names (in age order).

I only have two sons and have rarely mixed them up, but I have called my younger sister by S2's name and vice versa. I think it's because they're the same shape: vowel/identical-syllable/three-letter-syllable.

It's just all chaos inside my aging brain!

This! I constantly mix up DS and the dog. This weekend I addressed DS as both DH’s and his names, so “Bob-Bill.” My aging brain realized the mistake at the last minute so I blurted out both their names.🤣