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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

When do you stop..

130 replies

ginandjuice · 11/12/2015 22:15

...Calling your parents mummy and daddy?

Not an aibu but just curious.. When is really too old to be using the names mummy and daddy?

OP posts:
Debbriana1 · 12/12/2015 00:54

I actually find it weird calling my mother mum! She is my mummy.

citybushisland · 12/12/2015 00:58

I'm 45 and still call them Mummy and Daddy (well my father is dead, but when I'm talking about him I call him Daddy), our dd's still call us Mummy and Daddy, eldest is almost 17. I didn't realise there was an age restriction.

Jux · 12/12/2015 01:03

I think I switched towards the end of primary school. I seem to remember it felt quite daring.

I have a cousin who is retired who still calls his parents mummy and daddy.

DD stopped mid-primary I think. It was quite sad as she said "mummy" with such a posh accent, more like "mummeh". Grin

CainInThePunting · 12/12/2015 01:08

I got sick of being teased at school for Mummy/Daddy so started using first names in my teens. DS also called his grandparents by their first names. He calls me Mum though.

MaisieDotes · 12/12/2015 01:09

My mother who is 67 still refers to her (deceased) parents as Mummy and Daddy.

I call her Mum to her face and usually "my mother" to others.

CelestiaLuna · 12/12/2015 01:12

My eldest is twelve and still calls us Mummy and Daddy. That's even our names in her phone Smile

UterusUterusGhali · 12/12/2015 01:53

My dd has called me by my real name since she was 3 or 4. Xmas Hmm

I stopped mummy/daddy when I was about 10, but went back to it as an adult.

UterusUterusGhali · 12/12/2015 01:55

Thinking about it, DM is only mummy when I want something. I call her Mother to wind her up. It's stuck now. Xmas Grin

Gruntfuttock · 12/12/2015 02:06

Debbriana1 "I actually find it weird calling my mother mum! She is my mummy."

That's infantile. She's your mother not your "mummy".

PeasOnEarth · 12/12/2015 02:27

My parents insisted on Mummy/ Daddy. We never liked it as it does sound pretentious and somewhat infantile from the mouths of adults, but never had the courage to disagree. I do miss my mum - despite a complex relationship - she has mostly become 'Mum' now. I was 27 when she died.

My MIL refers to her late mother as 'Mummy' in conversation. She is 80, he mum lived until she was just short of 100. Really quite odd, not that I'd say it to her.

SpellBookandCandle · 12/12/2015 02:32

My father was Daddy until the day he died. My mother is mum or mummy. I give two fucks what anyone thinks. Hth.

DeepBlueLake · 12/12/2015 02:57

I still call my dad 'daddy' but then he died when I was 13 so I never got the chance to call him 'dad' and I will always be his little girl.

Mum is mum, I think that started when I was about 16.

DS1 calls me mummy but he is only 2 and DS2 is not even talking yet.

TheHouseOnTheLane · 12/12/2015 03:30

I know what you mean about it hurting your ears OP! My DHs best mate's DD is 18 and she's all "Daaaaaadddddyyyyyyy"

it sounds so weak somehow!

She calls her Mum, Mum and is always rude to her too. Angry

TheHouseOnTheLane · 12/12/2015 03:32

Also DH's 65 year old Aunt still refers to "When Mummy had that dog.." and "Remember when Daddy went to the shops and bought a horse?!" etc.

Winds me up.

ProjectPerfect · 12/12/2015 04:56

My 11 & 10 year old still call me mummy - although I notice they don't call me anything much at the moment.

Thinking it is probably part of the transition to "mum" that they're trying to get used to

mathanxiety · 12/12/2015 05:12

I am Mommy and exH is Daddy if they address him at all. Youngest DC is 14 now, oldest 25. DS calls me Ma. It is most unusual where we are for DCs to call parents anything but Mom and Dad once they get past 8 or 9. They use 'my mom' with friends, when talking about me (like BitOutOfPractice) so they know what they are doing is strange but yet they keep it up.

It's not unusual in Ireland where I grew up to call your mother Mammy or Mummy past childhood. In fact 'Mummy' is considered posh on the lips of older children in Ireland. 'Mammy' doesn't really have the same vibe however. It has more comedy potential.

Darina Allen, the doyen of Irish TV cooks and fairly upstream troutish, has recipes for 'Mummy's' such and such in her books.

MummyPig24 · 12/12/2015 05:17

Eldest dc is 8 and still calls us mummy and daddy and his friends call their parents the same. If they are talking about us they say "my mum" or "my dad". I don't want them to stop calling me mummy. I don't like mum really, but I realise that the time is coming very soon when mummy will be too babyish.

MummyPig24 · 12/12/2015 05:20

My grandma hates being called "mum" so when her children stopped calling her mummy they called her "mother" but in a sort of funny way. Or they call her "moth".

Writerwannabe83 · 12/12/2015 06:08

iliveinalighthouse

I'm not American Grin

My maternal family grew up in Birmingham and so we all say mom Smile

WeThreeMythicalKings · 12/12/2015 06:13

By the time they were in juniors both DSs were calling us Mum and Dad.

My mum was Welsh and sometimes I used the South Wales "Mameeeeyah" to wind her up.

Xenadog · 12/12/2015 06:16

I know someone who calls her parents mummy and daddy and she is in her 50s. She's quite posh though so that might have something to do with it.

Roystonv · 12/12/2015 06:17

When my 27 year old says Mummy in a long drawn out way (instead of the usual Mum) I know she needs a favour Smile

Pythonesque · 12/12/2015 06:47

I'm another in 40s still using Mummy - she'll certainly NEVER be Mum! but my father has transitioned to Dad most of the time ...

Of course if my children are around then she's granny quite a lot!

Mehitabel6 · 12/12/2015 07:06

I don't think that I could stand my adult children calling me 'mummy'- it would grate.

Snazapoo · 12/12/2015 07:10

I call my dad 'Daddy' and always will. My mum is dead but I'd call her Mummy.

It's quite normal in my family. My 75 year old aunt refers to her parents as Mummy and Daddy Grin