Yesterday at the pool* a mom introduced me to her 8 year old girl as "Mrs. Miller". I really do think this is a first. I did the textbook double-take and looked around for my mom.
Now, I know when we were kids all grown-ups were Mr/Mrs Lastname. As an adult, I have a hard time still re-addressing my parents' friends by their first names - even though it's socially acceptable now, I still think of Nancy as "Mrs. C" and Diana as "Mrs. W".
Then today I was introduced as Mrs. Miller.
As a parent, I've introduced my grown-up friends to my children by Mr/Mrs Firstname. For some reason it still rings of the necessary respect that goes along with being an adult (a topic maybe for another day) but keeps it personal.
How about you? Are you a Mr/Mrs Firstname or Lastname? Or something else? Are you offended when I introduce you to my children as Mr/Mrs Firstname?
*Yes, for now we are members of a pool and tennis club. It's way low-key although proposed renovations will probably price us out of our membership. While we're members, we're trying to take advantage of it as much as possible.
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5 comments:
I struggle with this one! I introduce adults as Mr/Ms FirstName, although sometimes if the individual is a generation older than myself I first ask how they prefer to be addressed.
For myself, nothing seems quite right. Mrs. Polster is weird. Ms Brenda even seems weird. One of my friends has her kids address adult friends with a general "Auntie" and Auntie Brenda if specification is needed. That feels nice, but I haven't adopted it for my kids except for a few close friends.
I'll be interested to read the responses on this one. =)
My friends kids all call me "Dan Man"...I kinda like that.
I am not and never will be Mrs. Smith. When someone calls for her, I let them know she doesn't live here. If my students call me Dr. Smith, I threaten to give them an F. Sophie's classmates call me Mrs. Smithstanza and, well, that just makes me giggle.
I use age when determining whether to call someone by their first name or not. If I introduce Hen to someone, say, my parents' age, I say "Hen, this is Mrs. Whomever." When I introduce Hen to someone my age (or thereabouts), I say "Hen, this is First Name, Child's name's mama (or papa)." As for how I want to be identified, I'm cool with the other parents deciding that. Although, I would draw the line at them calling me by Mrs. Gilroy since I didn't take Darr's last name when we married. Ms. Glynn or Christie work just fine.
Ha! I go by first names all the way. One thing that bothers me a lot here (I think it may be a southern thing) is that people will have their kids call me "Miss Sara." That's just wrong.
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