to refuse to answer when my daughter calls me Ma?

[jaimearose]

MiL is called Ma by her doting sons. It really grates, not sure why. Now my 5 year old DD has picked it up and calls me it constantly, Ma this, Ma that. I've asked her to call me Mum but she keeps reverting back, so now our conversations start 'Ma' 'mum' 'sorry, mum. Mum, Ma, mum I meant argh!' AIBU and way too controlling?! Should I just force a smile and hope this will pass? Or should I stand my ground and escalate the correcting to not responding to all Ma references for as long as it takes?!

Yabu and yes controlling. Just leave her be.

You just say "Granny is Ma, I'm Mummy", and keep reinforcing it (easier said than done, I know, DD does similar)

Ignoring a 5 year old??

No.

Answer your daughter. It's not her fault you have an unreasonable dislike to Ma, both the word and the person.

She is just copying her dad, no? It's not deliberate to annoy you. I thought you were going to say she was 15, not 5!

yanbu
dc called me 'mums' the other day.

We're having this "problem" too OP

Are you in the UK?

I'm in Ireland and its the norm to call your Mother Maaaaa around here.

I am from a nicer area than I live now and we were only allowed call our parents Mam and Dad.

My dc have now started to call me their MA [shudder]

tbh 'mums' is better than 'mumty' that te other dc used. they had to go to bed barefoot for this 'crime'

It is normal in Bristol, at least it is normal in Bristol for some people. Worse, it is "our ma" pronouced "armar".

I call my mum mumma, no idea how that started but she doeant seem to mind

I hate it too but can't explain why :-/

I get Ma . I much prefer it to Mum by a long way. Mum is a bit too advert land speak. I don't think I've ever been called Mum.

I also get "Mother" and very occasionally Mater.

Wait until she becomes a teenager and starts calling you Mother in a long drawn out and long-suffering way. You'll really miss Ma then!

Orange, oh dear, is it? I haven't come across that yet!

I wouldn't ignore it if my boys started calling me 'ma' but I'd start having flashbacks to Nick and Dot Cotton in Eastenders as that's what it always makes me think of!

I don't mind Ma. I call my mum Ma! I have never ever ever called her "Mum" and my DD has never either.

mines goiung through a phase of not calling me ANYTHING mumlike!

calling me Tardis all the time and I hate it. trying not to take notice, and saying ''do you know you're the only person in the world that can call me mum and I love hearing it.''.

naaah, hope its just a phase!

worse is (Im a single parent) when DC calls my dad' Dad!' ewwwwww.

Yes! Nick Cotton and Dot, that's who it reminds me of! I'm the OP by the way, this is my first post and I managed to use the wrong user name to start off with.

DD calls me various names and I have a name that I call her in response to each of the names she calls me. You could try this and pick a nick name for her to go with Ma that she really hates. Admittedly this isn't why I do it and I like the names that DD calls me.

I have the opposite problem. My 4 eldest DC are in their 20s and call me either mummy or ma. Either is OK. My 7 yo is supposed to call me mummy but keeps calling me muuuum. I hate it.

My grown-up children, in their twenties, both suddenly started calling me Ma quite independently. I was somewhat bemused at first as I was definitely Mum (earlier Mummy) all through their childhood! However, I find it hilarious and like it -and now always sign myself Ma in any communications with my children. I like being a Ma!

Wait til she calls you mumsy

It could be worse furcoatbigknickers. (Just.) It could be mumsy-poo!

I call my mum, mum. Unless I want to annoy her then it's mother.

DC call me mummy or mum. I would hate ma

It's funny how Ma has different connotations in different areas. I think of it as quite posh - my partner's family is definitely posher than mine, my MiL went through Cheltenham Ladies College and it's one of the language traits that stands out for me. Along with talking about the lavatory and shortening random words - eg it's the super, not the supermarket. Which also grates! I must just be a control freak :)

I get "mamoose"
I quite like it!

I'd call your child something that they don't like and continue doing it as long as they persist in calling you Ma. Why should you have to put up with it? I hated the fact my children called my mother Granny. she didn't mind, but it annoyed the hell out of me, as i had started by calling her Grandma, which is what i grew up with. It is irritating, but stick to your guns.