Tuesday, May 18, 2010

What do kids call you?

I've been pondering this question for some time...what should my kids call other adults and what should other kids call me?  I believe I tend to be on the less formal end of this question than other parents.  My kids generally call other adults by their first names, especially when those adults are friends of mine.  When they are going to a friends house for the first time, I generally encourage them to use Mrs. or Mr. until the parent invites a different name.

I definitely prefer to be called by my first name.  As a teacher, I am called Mrs. Chase all day, and while it is certainly my name, I prefer to be less formal with kids.  {Honestly, I would prefer to be on a first name basis with my students also but that's not the convention at my school!}  When my children's friends call me Mrs. Chase I always say, "Oh, please call me Jen."  My friends kids call me Jen but when I am not good friends with the parents, many kids seem uncomfortable with my first name.  I have taken to adding, "or you can call me Connar's {Aiden's} mom."  I actually really like to be called Connar's Mom!  There are also several kids who call me Miss Jen.

I do have one friend who insists that her kids call me Mrs. Chase.  That seems odd to me, since I have clearly let her know that I prefer to have my first name used.  She hasn't given any specific reasons, but I haven't asked directly either.

I am hoping that my kids don't offend other adults with their less formal approach but I do know that they are always respectful when speaking to adults.

Is this a dilemma for anyone else?  What is your solution?

3 comments:

  1. When I'm working in Em's classroom, the kids do call me "Mrs. Johnston" or "Emma's Mom". The rest of the kids I know just call me Tessa and I prefer that. Some do call me Miss Tessa and I'm ok with that, too. If I know the parents well, I have my kids call them by their first names.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have friends who use to live in Georgia and it is was custom to have kids call adults Mr or Miss and thier first name. They have since moved to Washington and I haven't been around them enough to see if this is something they continue to practice.
    Interesting query.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I chatted with my kids last night and Connar said that unless he knows them well, he doesn't actually call adults any name because it's too confusing :)

    ReplyDelete

I love hearing from my readers...please leave a comment!