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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask when kids stop calling you Mummy and Daddy and say Mum and Dad?

193 replies

Elmo27 · 03/10/2023 23:43

My DS is 7, 8 in January. We are very much still Mummy and Daddy. I love being Mummy because in so many ways he is growing up and I’m really noticing it all the more how mature and independent he is becoming since he started the juniors. But I notice that his friends say Mum and Dad, as do my friends kids, some of which are younger.

I remember my Dad not wanting me to stop calling him Daddy (he was a single Dad) and I got to an age (maybe around 7 or 8) where I felt embarrassed by it and I remember other kids making fun of me for it too until he eventually relented!

Maybe kids aren’t as mean as they were in the 90s but I just have been wondering. I asked DS if he wanted to call us Mum and Dad and if he did that was fine but he said he doesn’t want to.

What she did yours start saying Mum and Dad?

OP posts:
winniethedoo · 05/10/2023 17:49

I'm 43 and i still say mummy and daddy. We're not posh either.

BBno4 · 05/10/2023 17:50

Its normally when you tell them or someone shames them.

My 13, 12 and 8 year old call me mummy and mum. I will never stop them calling me mummy. I think as they get older it will just happen.

In some cultures they call their mum mama forever

Borgoff · 05/10/2023 17:50

This thread has made me realise that, because I don’t live in an English speaking country (but I speak English with my kids), they have no concept if mummy not being cool so they will possibly always call me mummy!

KimberleyClark · 05/10/2023 17:51

Millybob · 04/10/2023 00:04

I agree, Something deeply off-putting about a grown man and his Mummy.

It’s usually really posh types who do this isn’t it.

ImthatBoleyngirl · 05/10/2023 17:53

DD is almost 12 and still calls me Mumma/Mummy, even if her friends are around. If she's talking about me to her friends, she says Mum though.

cakewench · 05/10/2023 17:54

Still do, I've just turned 47 😆

However I don't refer to them that way to other people. It's more a thing I say when we're at home.

Dibblydoodahdah · 05/10/2023 17:56

My 10 and 13 year old both still call
me mummy. However, if they are talking about me to their friends they usually use mum.

FluffMagnet · 05/10/2023 17:58

My 4 year has been trying hard to switch to mum and dad recently. We feign deafness or incomprehension until she reverts to mummy and daddy. Not sure that will last when she's older. My youngest calls me Dada and retains Mama for my mum and my sister. He knows how to really kick a women when she's down!

ThinkingAgainAndAgain · 05/10/2023 17:58

DS is 15yo and I’m still mummy. DH has recently become dad after years of daddy.

akkakk · 05/10/2023 17:58

Tryingtryingandtrying · 05/10/2023 17:11

It's totally a class thing. Posh people never stop saying Mummy.

This.
Mummy / Daddy if speaking directly to them, or referring to them to siblings...
Mother / Father (mater / pater / APs etc.) if referring to them when talking to others...

alpenguin · 05/10/2023 18:00

My mid teen still calls me mummy at home but mum when anyone else is around. It’s just a word. Deciding it’s babyish beyond a certain age is sad.

SnapdragonToadflax · 05/10/2023 18:00

I called my Mum Mummy well into adulthood because she refused to answer to anything else. I now call her Mama (M'maar) or Mother, because it does sound a bit odd in public. But I still say 'Is Mummy there' if I ring and get my dad.

MirandaWest · 05/10/2023 18:01

My 19 and 18 year olds both call me Mummy. I presume they refer to me as mum to their friends.

hennaoj · 05/10/2023 18:02

Nearly 10 year old still calls us Mummy and Daddy, or occasionally 'Go away you idiot', he also calls Daddy by his first name, which is rather awkward when in public as the older two call him Dad! I miss him calling me Mumma as a toddler.
The 12 year old seems to switch between Mum and Mummy.

Slaterz · 05/10/2023 18:03

Never if you're from Ireland. With the addition of "your wee" mummy/daddy when they get elderly if someone is asking after them.

Colourfulponderings · 05/10/2023 18:04

Aged 1. Both, went from mamama and dadada to Mum and Dad despite us saying Mummy and Daddy.

autiebooklover · 05/10/2023 18:07

I still getting mummy when the 21 year old wants something 😂

I think it was gradual from around 8-10 that it shifted

Okki · 05/10/2023 18:07

I'm still Mummy. Dcs are 16 and 14.

FuzzyPuffling · 05/10/2023 18:08

Mine are middle aged and still call me "Mummy". Hurrah.

Okki · 05/10/2023 18:09

Or bruh and yas queen when they want to annoy me 😁

Saschka · 05/10/2023 18:09

lemonsaretheonlyfruit · 05/10/2023 17:23

You'll miss mum and dad when they are teens and you become known by your first name or Bruh 😎.

Oh yeah I get called either Mama or bruv. DS is 6. The joys of living in Brixton 🤣

Freetodowhatiwant · 05/10/2023 18:22

My two are still calling me Mummy but the big one, just turned 11, has just started secondary school and is trying out 'Mum'. It sounds weird though so makes me laugh. The 8yo likes to think he's more cool and sometimes tries out 'mum' for size or even my first name to be funny but he always calls me mummy at home. I like mummy! I insist on birthday and Mother's Day cards that still call me mummy. Because of this the kids got me a birthday card this year that called me 'Mam' just to make me laugh.

asosStalker · 05/10/2023 18:24

My 5 and 3 year olds Mummy/Daddy and Mum/Dad fairly interchangeably. Doesn’t really bother me.

Oioicaptain · 05/10/2023 18:26

My teenager calls me Mummy at home. Pretty sure that he would refer to me as his mum to others though.

Zola1 · 05/10/2023 18:26

I think she was about 5