Dad/Mum

[PistachioTiramisu]

I have just realised that I am so tired of hearing fathers described as 'dads' or mothers as 'mums'. I was discouraged from calling my parents mum and dad and called them Mummy and Daddy until D and M took over. I have never referred to either of them to other people except as 'my father', 'my mother' or 'my parents'. I really hate Mum and Dad.

I call my mum "motherino" and my dad "Fatherino". No idea why, it just happened one day and I can't stop myself now 😂

I call my mum "mother" when I need something, and I call my dad "father" when I'm being (very) jokingly formal.

It's strange to me how people call their parents "mother" and "father" seriously and consistently, but it doesn't bother me, because there's obviously reasons for this. Just like how it's strange to me when people call their mum "mam", but again, it doesn't bother me because there's reasons for that, too.

Maybe you need to find bigger things to bother you?

I had a horrible experience boyfriend who used to refer to his parents as “mother” and “father” and it was so weird.

Mater and pater, unless you're common as muck

Mummy is not common in Ireland!
it’s Mam & Dad or Mammy & Daddy

One calls one's parents Mama and Papa.

Live and let live

Butler…a bit lax for my liking. My solicitor handles all communications with my parents. I particularly enjoy our festive Teams conference meeting each Christmas…it’s the appropriate level of intimacy for me.

I love mummy and Daddy in an Irish accent.
Less so in British royalty, although I remember the solitary coffin wreath that said 'Mummy' at Diana's funeral being very moving.

I thought the same as @AgnesX - the only people I know who say mother and father when talking about their parents are Irish. (They call them Mam and Dad when talking to them).

I was going to ask if you’re Welsh. My Welsh relatives call their parents Mammy and Daddy and refer to them in speech as “my mother” and “my father”. I hate you calling them M and D, in the same way I hate when people put in texts or emails to me “Hi S” because my name starts with an S.

Erm, so what?

My parents' names are Pearl and Dean. I always address them as Mama and Papapapaaaaaaaaaaapapapapapapapapapaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Beat me to it

you’ll also hate my neck of the woods upbringing in deepest rural Wiltshire

my adult cousins still refer to their parents as ‘Muh’ and ‘Daah’

I love it
Chippenham/Grittelton/Hullavington on a plate m’duck/lover

I would never refer to my parents as 'my mum' or 'my dad' to others

That’s bonkers entirely your own choice but you are totally unreasonable to judge the rest of us for doing such a completely normal thing.

YANBU to have an opinion, we're all allowed one.

My Yorkshire SIL calls her mum 'Mother', I like it, it works for them. DH calls MIL mum or by her first name.

Well its not really up to you is it most adults. Refer to their parents as Mum and Dad
There are regional.varistions such as Mom or Mam or Mommy ,Mammy etc but you can't police how people refer to their parents

I'm only here for the conversations - have zero interest in kids

Wind-up

Yep, that does grate when I hear it. The only time I thought it was sweet was when Charles called the late Queen mummy at her jubilee.

Can’t stop silent laughing at this 😂

Father sounds forced or like someone trying to sound posh. Or a royal. I only refer to my mum as ‘my mother’ when she’s annoyed me.

If it bugs you it bugs you, so not unreasonable. I never addressed or referred to mine as Mum or Dad either, but when someone says "your mum" (or "your mom" in the US) or "your dad", I know what they mean and it doesn't bother me any more than someone saying "your mother" or "your father" in the same context. "Mums and dads" more generally is somehow less neutral, more twee. And it DOES seem really odd to me if someone (who is not my sibling) omits the "your" and says, for example, "are Mum and Dad coming to you for Christmas?"

Another spelling pedant 😁

I agree. I see it as something that very posh people do, the ones who have full time nannies and send their children to boarding school.

I prefer Mater and Pater.

My children have to call my parents Grandmother and Grandfather. It’s weird.

Edited to add - it’s not weird, it’s pretentious.

Quick Mumsnet HQ.. you have it all wrong. It should have been Mummiesnet all along 😳