A friend and I had a chat awhile back about what/how our children will address adults as they get older. When I was younger, I was taught to always address adults by Mr. or Mrs. So and So. Neighbours, my parents' friends...everyone was addressed with a title. These habits seem to die hard. My old gym teacher lives across the street from us. Mike refers to him by his first name, but I will always call him Mr. B_____.
But I'm finding with my generation, parents are teaching their children to call adults by their first name (except for teachers) and I haven't quite made up my mind on where I stand on this. I want my children's friends to refer to me as Mrs. Taves. And I want my children to refer to their friends' parents (and my friends as well) the same way. Are you still with me on this or am I using the words friends and parents too often LOL.
I just think back to when I was young, my neighbours were introduced to me as Mrs. _____. But today, my neighbour's kids call me J. I don't know...am I wrong in wanting that little bit of extra respect that goes along with that formal title? Or are we living in a society where those formalities are totally lost?
So "Jello" is right out then, I guess?
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I know what you mean, though. My nephews usually call me just "Dixie" and I don't like that. I much prefer the "auntie" addition at the front, even though I never called my aunts and uncles that. (I was rebellious and disrespectful, I know.)
I have a friend who wants to be called "Mrs -first name-". I don't know. That seems a bit awkward and like she should be hosting a children's tv show.
And with a name like Vandersluys... well, it could be pretty funny to listen to kids trying to get their mouths around that!
Yeah, I'm sort of back and forth on it. Being called Mrs. Toews by friends' kids would make me feel like I should be carrying a bag of knitting :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with the "auntie" thing...I like hearing it. My nephews and nieces say it, but Mike's don't.
And I'm totally teaching my kids to call you Mrs. Vandersluys...just to watch them try and wrap their tongues around it :-)
For some reason a lot of my friends with young kids (most too young to talk properly yet) call me Miss Angie when referring to me in front of their children. Not sure how I feel about that. Not sure I want to be Mrs. Finkbeiner, another fun one to wrap your brain around. My nephews call me Auntie Angie. When I talk about my aunts and uncles when I am not with them I usually just call them by their first names. But when I am with them I call them aunt and uncle. I think a lot of formality is being lost. I don't know for sure, but seems a lot of children have fewer proper manners, and maybe losing the Mrs. or Mr. designation is part of that. Or maybe just a shift in society. Hard to say. Growing up, my friend's parents were Karen's mom and Arleen's mom. Now I would probably just call them by their first names. There's my 2 cents :)
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