My brother and I have both been questioned on why we may refer to our parents by their first names at times. I've heard some refer to it as "weird," "strange," and read others call it "rude," "disrespectful," and "just plain wrong."
I find this to be interesting. We tend to alter how we refer to someone in just about every situation as we age. Parents go from calling their kids "little peanut" to their actual name to their full name if they're in trouble. Employees may refer to their employer as Mr./Mrs. Sasquatch, before eventually garnering the respect necessary to get away with calling them by their first name. If two people get close, they may start referring to one another by cute or funny inside joke-esque nicknames. Yet for some people, mom and dad should always be referred to as just that, mom and dad. Why?
Now, I'm not going to say I'm against calling your parents mom and dad, far from it. Logically, though, I think there are times when it makes sense to refer to them by their first names. Think about it... When parents have more than one child and they're all at home and of the same gender, will it do much good for him/her to yell out, "Son, come here" or "Daughter, get over here"? Regardless of gender, if there are eight kids in the house, how will the children know who is being called if the mother says, "Honey, could you come here a second please?" How will this confusion stop? Calling for the child by his or her first name (if they're all named Gus, well then, you're screwed). Well, isn't the same true in the reverse? If you're in Times Square for New Year's Eve and you shout, "Mom!" in the midst of 500,000 people, how likely is it only your mom will turn her head and respond? Not very... However, if you called her out by her first name, the odds of her hearing you and responding increases quite substantially.
Also, it's more fun to coin nicknames based off a person's first name than just mom or dad. Come on, we've heard all of the cute mom and dad terms: Mommy, mama, mom, daddy, dada, dad, papa, pops. If someone's name is Jamiroquai, the nickname possibilities are endless!
Lastly, it all depends on the relationship the children have with their parents. If the parents are perfectly fine with their kids referring to them by their first names, who are we to judge? Why is there such a black-and-white mentality regarding this matter? Each family is different and just because one family does things differently on the name-calling front than yours doesn't make them wrong. Respecting your parents goes above and beyond a pair of three letter words. If all you have to show for yourself on that front is calling them "mom" and "dad," you may need to work on your relationship with them a bit. Just sayin'...
I find this to be interesting. We tend to alter how we refer to someone in just about every situation as we age. Parents go from calling their kids "little peanut" to their actual name to their full name if they're in trouble. Employees may refer to their employer as Mr./Mrs. Sasquatch, before eventually garnering the respect necessary to get away with calling them by their first name. If two people get close, they may start referring to one another by cute or funny inside joke-esque nicknames. Yet for some people, mom and dad should always be referred to as just that, mom and dad. Why?
Now, I'm not going to say I'm against calling your parents mom and dad, far from it. Logically, though, I think there are times when it makes sense to refer to them by their first names. Think about it... When parents have more than one child and they're all at home and of the same gender, will it do much good for him/her to yell out, "Son, come here" or "Daughter, get over here"? Regardless of gender, if there are eight kids in the house, how will the children know who is being called if the mother says, "Honey, could you come here a second please?" How will this confusion stop? Calling for the child by his or her first name (if they're all named Gus, well then, you're screwed). Well, isn't the same true in the reverse? If you're in Times Square for New Year's Eve and you shout, "Mom!" in the midst of 500,000 people, how likely is it only your mom will turn her head and respond? Not very... However, if you called her out by her first name, the odds of her hearing you and responding increases quite substantially.
Also, it's more fun to coin nicknames based off a person's first name than just mom or dad. Come on, we've heard all of the cute mom and dad terms: Mommy, mama, mom, daddy, dada, dad, papa, pops. If someone's name is Jamiroquai, the nickname possibilities are endless!
Lastly, it all depends on the relationship the children have with their parents. If the parents are perfectly fine with their kids referring to them by their first names, who are we to judge? Why is there such a black-and-white mentality regarding this matter? Each family is different and just because one family does things differently on the name-calling front than yours doesn't make them wrong. Respecting your parents goes above and beyond a pair of three letter words. If all you have to show for yourself on that front is calling them "mom" and "dad," you may need to work on your relationship with them a bit. Just sayin'...
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