AIBU?
"Baby" as a petname for my kids
ourflagmeansdeath · 18/03/2023 22:23
I feel as if I'm not being unreasonable but I just wanted to check.
I call all 3 of my children the pet term "baby" - 19 year old son, 14 year old daughter and 5 year old daughter.
I met an old friend recently and when I referred to my 14 year old as this she looked me horrified. And asked if I said this to all my children. I said yes, it's just a habit really and they don't mind/don't notice me doing it at all.
She said I should have stopped for my teens ages ago, and should be considering stopping for the 5 year old as none of them are "babies" and this is a term used with relationships.
I don't agree personally because of course I know they're not babies but they'll always be MY babies. And if her argument is that surely it makes no sense to use this term in a relationship because your partner is not your baby??
Please tell me if I'm wrong though and I've missed something.
Am I being unreasonable?
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Snugglemonkey · 19/03/2023 10:40
My son insisted I stop calling him baby at around 2 with furious "I not a baby" or "I big boy" shouts 🙁 so I respected that (with a few slip ups!)
We all call my baby bubba sometimes, because she is chubby and my son was calling her chubba bubba, which seems to have stuck. So that is often shortened to chubs or bubba.
BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 19/03/2023 10:53
Christ I had no idea this provoked such strong feelings! My DC (11, 8 and 5mo) all have dozens of nicknames. I say "Hey babies" when I see them, because they ARE my babies.
5mo is known as Tiny Small, Gentle Soft (I don't know either! 😂), Grub, Glo-Worm, Baby Bee, Horrendous Infant, Stinkleton and Piglet. DS2 calls him Sobble, after the Pokémon!
They're all known as Baby, Chichen, Stinker, and Grubbles. DS2 has always been Fish. My parents always called me Babe.
What a sad world it is if people object to pet names.
ShapesAndNumbers · 19/03/2023 11:34
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cheatingcrackers · 19/03/2023 11:37
I like it, but my kids won’t allow it! My friend calls her teen daughter ‘baby girl’ and I love that her daughter doesn’t mind. So no I don’t think it’s weird.
I used to date an American and he called me baby and I liked that too - but it would sound totally wrong if my RP accent DH said it!
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