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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think that adults should not call their parents 'mummy' and 'daddy

183 replies

magpiemay · 16/03/2017 13:50

It might be that work is really grating on me today but I really cannot tolerate it. I sit with a lady (in her mid 50s) who takes an awful lot of personal calls throughout the day. Particularly from her mum and she calls her 'mummy' throughout the whole call... is it totally unreasonable that this makes me cringe?

OP posts:
redpickle · 16/03/2017 15:08

Oh dear, my DC's are over 3 (9 and 6) so apparently they 'should' stop calling my Mummy. Will be sure to tell them that 🙄

Materdolores · 16/03/2017 15:13

Yabu
People can call their parents what they like without having to refer to you for permission

elQuintoConyo · 16/03/2017 15:13

I use Mummy and Daddy because I'm frightfully posh. Is that ok? Can I stay on MN?

2017SoFarSoGood · 16/03/2017 15:15

I had an assistant once who insisted on calling me mummy. all the f#}]€¥ time. It drove me insane. She was perhaps three years younger but I --couldn't fire her for it because it was her only flaw

Flowersto those who have reverted to using it in the last years of a parent's life. It does seem to give a particular joy.

harderandharder2breathe · 16/03/2017 15:16

Yabu for getting worked up about what someone else calls their mother

Yanbu for getting annoyed at a colleague making personal calls on work time

keeponkeeponkeepon · 16/03/2017 15:20

When I was about 21 my mum announced she may prefer it if I called her by my name. That was shit.
Anyway, it doesn't really matter what they call them does it but I understand your frustration especially as you sit next to her.

I had a friend who calls her husband daddy and he calls her mummy. Now that is gross.

Work colleagues can be very annoying.

milliemolliemou · 16/03/2017 15:23

Fwiw, I called my parents by their christian/nicknames from age 8. Sibling started it aged 12. That made people cringe, too. I don't care what other people call their parents but do dislike "baby" without a delineator - eg "would you like to hold baby?". worse, "does mummy want to hold baby?" Grief.

silentsigh · 16/03/2017 15:25

I'm 27 and I still call my parents Mummy and Daddy BlushBlush

kel1493 · 16/03/2017 15:25

My mum did when my nan was alive. Really not sure how it affects you in any way

sirfredfredgeorge · 16/03/2017 15:27

milliemolliemou That made people cringe, too.

Really, DD who's now 5.5 has called my by name for ages, not once have I seen anyone cringe or look askance or anything - she describes me as "my dad" when talking to other people but always address me by my name.

Butkin1 · 16/03/2017 15:28

Wouldn't bother me at all In fact I quite like it..

What grates with me is when children call their parents by their first names. Just sounds wrong and such a shame as they are the only people who can call them Mummy and Daddy.

peaceloveandbiscuits · 16/03/2017 15:35

Everyone does it in Northern Ireland.

EmeraldScorn · 16/03/2017 15:38

I call mine mummy, likewise my siblings call her mummy and my siblings range in age from 46 down to me at early 30's. Why would we not call her mummy? She is our mummy.

I don't know anyone who doesn't refer to their parents as "mummy" and "daddy". I don't think it's a "class thing" at all as others have suggested, we're Irish working class and it's always been mummy and daddy; My mummy called my granny mummy because she was her mummy!

ohmygodyouguys · 16/03/2017 15:39

My mum and her siblings called my grandparents mummy and daddy. Even now they're both gone, if they're talking about them they do the same. It would be weird to me if they called them mum and dad now. I don't call my parents mummy and daddy though me and DH are mummy and daddy to our dog

DangerousBeanz · 16/03/2017 15:47

I used to call my parents mum and dad, until my dad was really getting on and becomingand then I went back to Daddy because he liked it. I wish either of them were still here to call them anything to be honest. Mummy and Daddy is so much better than my late parents.

HesterGreysGarden · 16/03/2017 15:48

High fives to all the Irish (particularly nordies) on this thread. I just came on to say that EVERYBODY in Northern Ireland calls their parents mummy and daddy.

FurryDogMother · 16/03/2017 15:53

Prince Charles still calls the Queen 'Mummy'. My mum's dead, so I don't call her anything, and Dad is just Dad.

KanyeWesticle · 16/03/2017 16:01

Not a class thing, but I've called my parents by their name since they became foster carers (foster children often have mums and dads of their own elsewhere). Easier for all of us to use the same names.

rosesandcashmere · 16/03/2017 16:17

I'm 32 and call my dad 'daddy' and I always will. I care not a single jot what anyone thinks.

FarAwayHills · 16/03/2017 16:18

Makes my teeth itch to hear this from one grown up to another. One person in particular I know reverts to a squeaky little girl voice when with speaking or referring to her mum. She is 40 FFS. Also women referring to their husband as Daddy in conversation with other adults - that sends me over the edge.

rosesandcashmere · 16/03/2017 16:18

My mum is also dead but she was always just mum strangely enough

Cockadoodledude · 16/03/2017 16:22

OP I agree it makes me cringe to hear grown adults referring to their parents in such babyish terms.

don't give a damn what you think, don't need permission from you, really not sure how it affects you.

....Oh dear mummy's boys and daddy's girls are out in force and apparently upset. Must be a taboo subject Wink

Shutupanddance1 · 16/03/2017 16:22

From North of Ireland and I call my parents Mammy and Dad. I'm 27, with my own baby.

If that offends I don't give a flying hula hoop - pretty sure it makes absolutely no different to anyone else's life

Original poster
magpiemay · 16/03/2017 16:24

AGnu that also really grates on me!!!

Glad I am not the only one it irritates FarAwayHills and Cockadoodledude Grin

OP posts:
StinginBelle13 · 16/03/2017 16:27

FarAwayHills don't get me started on the whole 'daddy' for anyone but the actual father thing! My friend's teenage niece on Facebook talks about celebrities she has huge crushes on and shares pictures or videos of them with titles such as,
"Choke me, daddy."
I see it on Twitter a lot in response to certain celebrities too, all from adolescent girls. Confused Makes me feel violently sick!

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