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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

How old is too old to call parents mummy and daddy

81 replies

suchafuss · 27/08/2016 08:25

My DD9 had just spent a few days with her GPs. When she got back she was upset as she had overheard them saying that she was too old to still call us mummy and daddy. She calls us mum and dad at school and to her friends and I like that she still wants to call us this. AIBU to think its none of anyones business and there is nothing wrong with this?

OP posts:
Anniegetyourgun · 27/08/2016 08:28

Cue several hundred posters saying they are in their 50s/60s and still call their 80+ parents mummy and daddy, and why not indeed?

How old is too old? Well it isn't 9, for certain! What do they want her to call you? First names? Mater and Pater? The Old Folk? Ach, they're barkin'.

rosesarered9 · 27/08/2016 08:31

YANBU It's none of their business.
BTW DD9 means that she's your ninth daughter, not that she's nine years old.

BeingATwatItsABingThing · 27/08/2016 08:31

I find it odd that my DP's siblings call their parents mummy and daddy but that's my issue, not their's. It's no one else's business what your DC calls you.

Tartsamazeballs · 27/08/2016 08:32

Depends how posh you are!

Pardonwhat · 27/08/2016 08:33

YANBU. I think I was about 7/8 when I stopped.

Naveloranges · 27/08/2016 08:34

My daughter is 15 and calls me mummy. We are not posh.

ShatnersBassoon · 27/08/2016 08:34

If she's already reluctant to call you mummy and daddy in front of her friends, she's not keen on it/thinks it's babyish.

Let her call you mum and dad if she'd rather, or carry on with mummy and daddy at home of she's happier with that. It isn't anybody else's business, which is why her grandparents discussed it privately (as we all discuss things that are none of our business).

WasDat · 27/08/2016 08:35

I'm 29. I still call my dad Daddy sometimes. Not often but I do.

It's no of their business what she calls you.

Twodogsandahooch · 27/08/2016 08:37

14

BrianCoxReborn · 27/08/2016 08:38

Not exactly the same but I still call my grandmother "Nanny" and I'm 38!

I'm the eldest of a million grandchildren (ok, about 20) and great grandchildren, who all use "Nanny".

User543212345 · 27/08/2016 08:40

YANBU. I'm 37 and DH is 44 and we've never called our parents anything but Mummy and Daddy, and we're middle class. Ditto DSis's DH's family - all the adult children still say Mummy and Daddy. It's very normal really.

JuneFromBethesda · 27/08/2016 08:41

YANBU. I'm 42 next month and still call my parents mummy and daddy. Nothing to do with being 'posh' either. My children call me Mummy and I hope they always do. Why shouldn't they?

NiceCuppaTeaAndASitDown · 27/08/2016 08:41

I'm 28 and while my dad is 'Dad', my mum is 'Mummy' or 'Goosey' depending on who I'm taking to.
My 30yo sister calls her 'The Mothership'.

livingthegoodlife · 27/08/2016 08:42

Still call my parents mummy and daddy and I'm 30. I don't expect to ever stop nor do I want my children to stop. Let your daughter decide.

livingthegoodlife · 27/08/2016 08:42

Btw I also call my mum the Mothership! How funny.

sunnydayinmay · 27/08/2016 08:43

My 9 year old will day "my Mum" to his friends, but calls me "Mummy" in public.

In private, I'm known as "Mummy Snuggles".,Smile

dementedma · 27/08/2016 08:43

Admit I find it weird hearing adults use mummy and daddy, but not my parents so not a problem really.

BeingATwatItsABingThing · 27/08/2016 08:44

When I want something my dad is DaddyDearest and my mum is MotherM... (Insert our alliterative surname)

HPFA · 27/08/2016 08:44

I remember when I got to university finding it odd that some people still referred to mummy and daddy. It seemed to be an ex-Public School Thing. Although it made me laugh when certain people who had adopted prole accents were suddenly heard to say "Hello Mummy" at the end of term!

However I agree that its entirely up to your DD what she calls you. My 12 year old varies between Mum and Mummy (or Dad and Daddy) depending on her mood and what she's trying to wheedle out of us! Certainly her GPs shouldn't be making her feel bad about it.

budgiegirl · 27/08/2016 08:45

Any age, as long as you are both happy with it.

My DD age 11 still calls us mummy and daddy, but mum and dad when her friends are around. I'm happy with either. My teenage boys only cal me mummy when they want something!

My friends dd called her parents mummy and daddy until she was 16, but that was mostly because her parents corrected her when she tried to call them mum and dad. That always seemed a bit off to me.

MiddleAgeMiddleEngland · 27/08/2016 08:46

My university-age DDs either call us Mum and Dad, or Mummy and Daddy depending on mood/context. I don't think it matters at all.

Lweji · 27/08/2016 08:46

My 11 year old only does it as a joke.

But it's not an issue and none of their business.

You or your OH should have a quiet word with them, tell them she overheard them and she was upset. That is the key part. Their comments had an effect on her. And they should refrain from commenting on such aspects, particularly behind her back.

Lj8893 · 27/08/2016 08:50

My 2 year old is already starting to call me mum and it makes me sad, I don't think 9 is too old to call you mummy and daddy at all!

Wolpertinger · 27/08/2016 08:51

Confession - I still call my mum Mummy. And my DDad was always Daddy. I am in my 40s.

However as a health care professional, when adult relatives call their parents mummy and daddy it uniformly sounds weird and they have a higher than average incidence of being nightmare relatives.

For this reason i have never ever admitted to my work colleagues that I call my parents Mummy and Daddy as they would never be able to take me seriously again Blush

In answer to your original question, I realised in my teens that I had to call my parents mum and dad to others and mummy and daddy at home only.

BadToTheBone · 27/08/2016 08:52

I call my parents all sorts of connotations of mam and dad, they'll answer to them all, lol. My ds(14) and dd(10) call me Mammy and DH, Daddy. It's up to them though, lol at anyone saying I need to 'let' them call me Mam.

Does this mean I'm working class as its mammy not mummy, or middle class as its mammy not mam, lol?

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