Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to find it questionable that a 4 yr old is greeted with the words 'Hello, sexy!'??

32 replies

SugarSkyHigh · 26/02/2008 18:28

my sister's friend greeted her 4 yr old DS in this way when he came into kitchen from playing with others upstairs. I thought it was tasteless. Turns out this mother looks on DS as a real 'mummy's little man'. Am I the only one to find this weird? Or is this normal? (I only have girls myself.... but would go mad if DH addressed them in similar fashion)

OP posts:
McDreamy · 26/02/2008 18:31

Not a term I would choose to use for my DS but I probably wouldn't bat an eyelid if someone used it towards their child. Have heard children being called ALOT worse.

iMum · 26/02/2008 18:34

I greet my ds (6) with "hello gorgeous"
but then he is!

lottymadbird · 26/02/2008 18:35

bit odd but then i have a friend who sings to her dog... "sexy... my little baby doggy is soooo sexy...."!

seriously if it was my DC i'd ask whoever it was not to greet them in that way though.

kerryk · 26/02/2008 18:36

i am with mcdreamy, would rather a mum said hello sexy in a loving voice than fuck off.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 26/02/2008 18:37

yes

hecate · 26/02/2008 18:37

I think it's weird. I love my lads to bits, but saying "hello sexy"? Why would any mother say that?

Sexy - 1. concerned predominantly or excessively with sex; risqué.

  1. sexually interesting or exciting; radiating sexuality.

I do not think it is sinister that she's calling her son that, you understand, I think it is just not thinking about what she's saying. I am sure she does not think her son is sexy!!

However - the 'mummys little man' attitude? IME mothers like that end up being one of those 'mother-in-law from Hell' types. no woman is good enough for their little boy. Competing with the interloper for time and attention. Jealous.

kevinsmother · 26/02/2008 18:41

A bit weird but each to their own.

I don't think he'll appreciate it when he's 14.

Original poster
SugarSkyHigh · 26/02/2008 18:41

kerryk: It goes without saying we would i imagine all rather a mum said hello sexy in a loving voice than fuck off!!!!!!!!

OP posts:
BananaPudding · 26/02/2008 18:44

I would have an eyebrow up and my mouth agape if I heard that one. I wouldn't immediately jump to a sinister conclusion, but things can be wildly inappropriate without being sinister.

But then I think that children are being sexualized at a frighteningly young age, e.g. Bratz dolls and the like.

AbbeyA · 26/02/2008 18:49

It is a very inappropriate remark to make to a child. It might be better than some others but it doesn't make it appropriate.

FrannyandZooey · 26/02/2008 18:50

It is a cultural thing
some groups of people use this as a term of endearment to their child and it doesn't mean anything dodgy is going on

Twiglett · 26/02/2008 18:51

it's really common

ruty · 26/02/2008 18:51

imagine if a man said it to a little girl. So I think inappropriate, yes. Entirely harmless in context i suppose. Hello gorgeous is very different.

AitchTwoOh · 26/02/2008 18:52

do you think? i wouldn't use it myself but i have heard a friend say it to her wee boy and didn't think about it much, other than it was a bit crass. but not disastrous, imo.

WinkyWinkola · 26/02/2008 18:52

I think it's very weird and inappropriate.

Not really sure how 'sexy' can be interpreted in any other way than "You are attractive and make me think of sex," but if it's a cultural thing, then I must be wrong.

FrannyandZooey · 26/02/2008 18:52

Twiglett I was being so careful with my "some groups"

Twiglett · 26/02/2008 18:53
hecate · 26/02/2008 18:53

Good point ruty.

A father greets his 4 year old daughter with the words "hello Sexy" doesn't sit well, does it? Is it any less inapproprate because it is mother/son? If so, why?

Twiglett · 26/02/2008 18:53

the appropriate definition of common in this case would of course be coarse: lacking refinement or cultivation or taste; "he had coarse manners but a first-rate mind"; "behavior that branded him as common"; "an untutored and uncouth human being";

VeniVidiVickiQV · 26/02/2008 18:55

Oh, you see, now I thought Twig meant "frequent", rather than social group

I've said something like that before now. If you have a habit of using pet names, it's easy to get confuddled and use the wrong ones for your children/partner.

Means nothing really.

FrannyandZooey · 26/02/2008 18:55

Oh VVV you got me there

AbbeyA · 26/02/2008 18:56

Hello gorgeous is fine-entirely different.
You could explain it to the child. I don't think you could explain 'hello sexy' to them without altering the meaning.

JoanCrawford · 26/02/2008 18:56

It's crass, in much the same way as putting a 4year old girl in a t-shirt with the slogan, "so many boys, so little time."

Not to everyones taste that's all.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 26/02/2008 18:58
Grin
BananaPudding · 26/02/2008 19:01

Oh no Twig...haven't you seen how every thread has gone lately when someone said "it's common"? Now we get our popcorn out to wait for someone to flood the thread with red mist

Swipe left for the next trending thread