Is it offensive to refer to your son as “the kid”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone who would be offended by that is probably offended by a significant percentage of their interactions with other people. That’s their issue to deal with. I wouldn’t give this another thought.

+1. We have definitely referred to ours as “the boy” and “the girl”.

We have Old Girl and New Girl

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone who would be offended by that is probably offended by a significant percentage of their interactions with other people. That’s their issue to deal with. I wouldn’t give this another thought.

+1. We have definitely referred to ours as “the boy” and “the girl”.

We have Old Girl and New Girl

Old girl and New Girl are our dogs!

I guess “the kid” could be considered sort of solipsistic to other parents, since it implies THE kid (the only kid/the only one that really matters). But I agree that people who worry about it probably get offended at lots of things.

I’ve used “kiddo” about my kids and some people find it annoying, but my kids like it so whatever.

[Anonymous]

My god people worry about the stupidest things. The same term can be endearing and mean; it is the manner in which it is used that matters.

Do you love your children and treat them with kindness? Then you can call them sh*tbird and it really is fine!

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]As in, “I gotta pick up the kid from school today”? Or are people overreacting if they find that offensive?[/quote]

Maybe your child doesn't like being referred to as a young goat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My father always referred to us as “kiddo”. I think it’s condescending and rude and unkind.

My mother did the same but I found it endearing.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s fine. It’s probably just regional speech differences. I don’t find kid offensive at all. We also go the extra mile in my family and call them the boy and the girl (as in “what time is the boy getting home?” and “the girl is still awake”).

[Anonymous]

Do you must get offended about everything OP?

[Anonymous]

I don’t like kid/kids/the/kid/my kids.

I prefer children for plural or son/daughter/child for individual.

“My children both have games this week. My daughter also has dance.”

I feel like “the kids” is just lazy or something. If I need DH to make their lunches I’d rather say “Dave, can you please make lunch for Susan and Sam tomorrow? I have an early start.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As in, “I gotta pick up the kid from school today”? Or are people overreacting if they find that offensive?

It's marginally better than "The little or likes.". When I hear someone refer to their child/children as little/littles I want to push a pie in their face!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love calling my kid, "kid" or "the kid." No one seems offended. The kid has a bunch of fun nickname variants for Mom and Dad, too. We are all just trying to have a good time over here, though.

Do you love your "kid" and show it in all the important ways? If so, one is going to care about this.

+1. This is dumb. I refer to my parents often as “the parents”. Sometimes I call my five year old “monster man”. Words won’t offend you if you don’t let them.

Lol we call our daughter “SB” or “sh*tbird” and it’s 100% affectionate!

How can referring to your child as sh*t be affectionate?

[Anonymous]

Read this whole thread and no one said ankle-biters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I refer to my kids as "the kids" when discussing with DH. As in "are you getting the kids from aftercare or am I?" I don't see what the issue is.

When there is only one child, you are substituting "kid" for their name, so it is intentionally depersonalizing the individual a nameless generic with no identity -- much like saying "the wife," when simply saying her name would be more appropriate, treating her as an individual instead of "a role." Whereas, referring to a collective group a children as "kids" is short hand for naming each of them individually and in context unnecessarily; same for family, or grandparents, or class. The kid, the wife, the old ball and chain, the old man -- those are intentionally depersonalizing terms, though in context they can also become terms of endearment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only person I know who does this also says "the Wife." He's affecting a particular kind of persona that he thinks is funny. It's not offensive, though I do find him a little annoying.

"The Wife" always sounds like someone referring to a very old car or appliance he hasn't gotten around to replacing yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you must get offended about everything OP?

Huh? I’m asking about other people who get offended by this.

[Anonymous]

I know someone who refers to her kid as “the heir” so the kid is better than that.