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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:
AndrewGarfieldsLaptop · 05/10/2023 20:16

My DS is 6 and calls me mummy. At school I am Mum.

TakeMe2Insanity · 05/10/2023 20:16

My 7 year old went through a phase of calling me bro!! Frankly I’ll take mummy over that.

TheNoodlesIncident · 05/10/2023 20:16

DS was in Y1, aged five. It was a bit sad as his speech had been behind so we weren't mummy and daddy for very long. MIL continued to refer to us as mummy and daddy for a long time, she didn't seem to notice that DS didn't use those terms any more. I suspect another kid or kids at school said something, as "Santa is really parents, isn't it?" also came up that year. Plus he stopped saying purple was his favourite colour after being laughed at for that. Other kids can be a real downer!

ThinWomansBrain · 05/10/2023 20:17

Move to Ireland

three Irish friends, all 40+, still refer to, and where alive address DMs as Mammy

Switcher · 05/10/2023 20:17

I have never called my parents anything else. I hope my children don't stop either. Obviously they'll refer to me as mum to their friends, that's fine.

felisha54 · 05/10/2023 20:18

I'm 40 and still say mummy and daddy. I think it's very typical in Ireland. I would g like to be called mum. I think it sounds too formal.

muchalover · 05/10/2023 20:19

26 y/o son calls me mummy
28 y/o son calls me muvver
35 y/o daughter calls me mama

MaryShelley1818 · 05/10/2023 20:20

DS5 - Mama and Dada
DD2 - Mammy and Daddy

Thankfully I don't know any adults who would refer to their parents as Mummy and Daddy...that is really cringey - is it regional? (I'm North East England).

satellitesunshine · 05/10/2023 20:21

my 2.5 year old calls us by our first names if that counts :’)

Mousewrapper · 05/10/2023 20:26

DC(9 & 10) call me Moo. It's changed from Moomoo so I guess if they called me Mummy it may have changed to Mum by now.
The eldest has taken to calling me a mixture of Moo and first name. I'm good with either.

CornflakesOnTheSolesOfHerShoes · 05/10/2023 20:30

Most of us don’t “refer to them as” Mummy and Daddy - if I’m talking about them I’ll say “my mum” or “my dad”. But I call them Mummy and Daddy to their faces because that’s what I’ve always called them and it always felt artificial to change it. It’s what they called their own parents all their lives too. Sorry some people find it so cringe-inducing that they would avoid me - I’m really not convinced it’s my defining characteristic but up to you…

Coffeeandchocolate12 · 05/10/2023 20:31

My daughters (19,17,14) call us Mummy and Daddy and will use these names in front of their friends.
I’ve noticed some of their friends using Mummy and Daddy too so I don’t think it’s hugely unusual.

PinkMoscatoLover · 05/10/2023 20:32

Nothingbuttheglory · 05/10/2023 17:14

Posh people never stop saying Mummy

We must be scum 😂My 3 yo has been calling me Mum for a while.

😂😂

MissionImpossible3 · 05/10/2023 20:32

Mine are in their twenties and still call me mummy. My parents were mummy and daddy until their deaths. Don’t care what anyone thinks about it tbh!!

WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps · 05/10/2023 20:35

Mine say MOM and DAD. Have done since I think about 8-9 y.o. Saying mommy and daddy after 8-9 y.o. sounds odd to me. It's a little child thing IMO.

Missingmyusername · 05/10/2023 20:36

Occasionally get mum and dad now. DD is 7. Mostly mummy /daddy.

PepeLePew · 05/10/2023 20:37

Always Mummy when we are on our own. If anyone at all is in earshot, they tend to go with Mother. "My mum" if they are referring to me. Late teens, all of them.

Disappointedsofa · 05/10/2023 20:38

I'm in my 40s and me and my siblings refer to our parents as mummy and daddy. It would be odd for us to call them mum or dad.
Although when I'm talking about them to other people , I will refer to them as mum or dad as it does sound a bit more grown up.

Hariboislife · 05/10/2023 20:39

DS2 is 4 and has started to say mum, I hate it! I’ve asked him to go back to mummy. DS1 is 5 and still says mummy so not sure where little one is getting it from

SoCalLiving · 05/10/2023 20:39

Disappointedsofa · 05/10/2023 20:38

I'm in my 40s and me and my siblings refer to our parents as mummy and daddy. It would be odd for us to call them mum or dad.
Although when I'm talking about them to other people , I will refer to them as mum or dad as it does sound a bit more grown up.

I do the same thing (albeit I only have one parent so it's just Mummy for me!) but tend to refer to her in conversation with others as my mother!

Penguinsmum · 05/10/2023 20:44

My son is 7 and we are still mummy and daddy. But he will say about us....my mum said etc.

Rainbowshit · 05/10/2023 20:46

Mine are 16 and 14. Still mummy at home but mum in front of friends. Delighted to still be mummy.

CarolinaInTheMorning · 05/10/2023 20:47

Didn’t Prince Charles refer to the Queen as “mummy’? I am pretty sure he did well into his older years.

Yes, and the late Queen called her mother "Mummy" her whole life. Also the wreath from William and Harry on Diana's coffin had a card that said "Mummy."

Desecratedcoconut · 05/10/2023 20:49

From the day they speak, such is my preference.

Davros · 05/10/2023 20:50

If you're Jewish/English you never stop. DH's 83 year old sister still refers to their parents as mummy and daddy (d)