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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:
SpikeGilesSandwich · 16/03/2017 20:18

YABU, it's none of your business what other people call their family. I agree that they shouldn't be calling them anything loudly during work time but apart from that it's fine. Personally, I've always found it weird the way Spot calls his parents Mum and Dad instead of Mummy and Daddy but each to their own.

zukiecat · 16/03/2017 20:24

We're neither posh nor Irish (Scottish!)

My DDs are 25 and 24 and both call me Mummy,

I like it, and I don't care what anyone thinks

SewMeARiver · 16/03/2017 20:29

Nope. Being ridiculously unreasonable here, sorry.

LuluJakey1 · 16/03/2017 20:32

None of your concern what they call their parents.

ImFuckingSpartacus · 16/03/2017 20:36

I think its kinda sweet, if a little odd.

But then I don't have a mammy or daddy and haven't had for a very long time, so that may give me a different perspective on it Sad

dementedma · 16/03/2017 20:48

If my adult dcs started calling me mummy I would be mortified to be honest.
Although teen ds's "mawbags" doesn't thrill me either!

TheNaze73 · 16/03/2017 20:50

YABU. Mater et Pater, for me. Why does it bother you?

WelliesAndPyjamas · 16/03/2017 20:55

My parents are Mami and Dadi (Welsh).
My eldest is 13 and I am Mami, DH is Dadi.
Not loudly in an office 😄 just in our own comfortable family settings.

Doesn't hurt anyone.

RortyCrankle · 16/03/2017 21:08

Simple - MYOB

Puppymouse · 16/03/2017 21:14

Mine refused to answer to anything else no matter how much I tried as a child and three generations on my mum's side did the same. My aunt and my sister do too, so it would be a bit strained if I felt as strongly as you! I've been teased a bit but am already a bit sad my DD sometimes defaults to Mum already even at 3.

LoriD · 16/03/2017 21:16

I'm Irish and we tend to call our parents mummy and daddy our whole life's I guess we are just To to it and don't think about it.

Just the way we call grandparents granny & granda

hawleybits · 16/03/2017 21:17

What is apparent, is the fact many who use mummy and daddy, do so in private but wouldn't use it in front of others -what's all that about?

3catsandcounting · 16/03/2017 21:39

hawley - because of the Confused faces they know they'll get if they do (like on here!)

My DD and DS are 16 & 18, and still call us Mummy and Daddy. We're neither Irish, nor posh. It's just simply what they've always called us. I did suggest years ago that I'm fine with 'Mum' if they preferred that. They both ignored me! 😊
Changing our names mid-childhood would be rather strange.

Mammylamb · 16/03/2017 21:47

I have a mammy and a dad

Toobloodytired · 16/03/2017 21:50

Can't stand it, I call my mum 'mummy' if I'm looking for a favour however! I wouldn't do it in a serious manner.....not a chance!

I call her by her first name a lot as she doesn't answer to mum lol

My brother is 11 & im trying to stop him saying mummy!

yikesanotherbooboo · 16/03/2017 21:51

I'm slightly posh and partially Irish; Mummy and Daddy for me too as far as I'm concerned those are their names and I wouldn't change their name to suit me or some social mores.

dementedma · 16/03/2017 21:53

My DDS are in their 20s. If they produce offspring soon I shall also refuse to be granny, gran, nanny or anything similar. I'm in my fifties and those terms are so ageing. Any grandchildren - and please God not any time soon- will have to come up with something else.

Salmotrutta · 16/03/2017 21:54

It's not generally the norm in Scotland to refer to parents as Mummy and Daddy past the age of maybe 6/7 unless you are quite posh.

It's definitely a poshness indicator up here on the whole.

I can honestly say that the only adults I have ever heard referring to Mummy and Daddy up here have been landed gentry types.

Sylvannas · 16/03/2017 22:22

I call my mother - Marvelous Mad madam Mim. (Character from the sword in the stone)

I call my dad - Daddy Poos.

I'm 33. But I act like I'm 7 lol. Always been very jovial.

5foot5 · 16/03/2017 22:50

Definitely a class thing (IME)
Everyone I knew had switched to Mum and Dad by 7/8
At University though the poshest people I met still said Mummy and Daddy

Now Mam was definitely seen as lower class where I grew up

OvariesBeforeBrovaries · 16/03/2017 23:04

demented I made my mom a nanny when she was 44 Grin I think the name was the least of her worries, just having a grandchild made her feel aged overnight Wink

Seren85 · 16/03/2017 23:19

It would seem very odd where I live, at least within the circle of people I know (working class/lower middle class Northern) to say Mummy and Daddy. It is definitely Mum (or Mam) and Dad after about age 5. I would associate it with posh or Irish. I can't say I get wound up by whatever anyone calls their parents though. I might occasionally say it as a joke if I'm asking for a favour though!

WayfaringStranger · 17/03/2017 00:09

I think it's fine to call your parents whatever the heck you want but I reserve the right to think you're weird if a fully grown adult says; "I'm going to mummy and daddy for dinner tonight." If you can't refer to your parents in adult terms to acquaintances and colleagues, then clearly you have not yet fully matured.

eyespydreams · 17/03/2017 00:25

Hurrah for NIers, mummy and daddy here too and always found it to be v usual there. Of course maybe that is because we are all so vair, vair posh Grin

EmeraldScorn · 17/03/2017 00:26

lorelairoryemily "very very few Irish people say mummy"

I'm sorry but you're wrong; I'm Irish (Belfast) and literally every person I know calls their parents mummy and daddy. I have friends from Dublin/Donegal/Limerick and two of those people call their mummy "ma" but everyone else says mummy/mammy.

Facebook groups/local forums/buses/shops/work etc any interactions I've ever heard involving someone's parents has always been with a reference to "mummy".