A kid calling their parents by their first names is very 90210 to me - like Kelly calling her mom Jackie.

I have not found this to be an issue. My kid sometimes calls me by my first name but usually as part of a silly game (like she'll pretend were old friends going on a trip together and call me by my first name). We also have some silly games in which we all call each other "sir" and "madam" and another silly game in which she calls me by a goofy nickname and pretends she's my mother. These are all jokes.

Under normal circumstances she calls me mom and my husband dad and I can't see that changing. I also can't imagine trying to "crack down" on these little jokes where she uses other names just to preserve the sanctity of "mom and dad."

My kid is 9 and I could imagine her trying to call us by our first names as a teen to annoy us, but my approach to that kind of behavior thus far has been to not let it get a rise out of me, which I think tends to decrease it's effectiveness. If your kid is calling you by your first name because they know it irritates you, my recommendation is to simply not let it irritate you and it will lose it's appeal.

I don't think my authority as a parent derives from the title "mom".

My 4 year old sometimes calls me by my first name to other people which I find adorable. Otherwise this has not come up (oldest is 10). It would be weird to me!

Anonymous wrote:What if they prefer to call you by your first names?

Note: I am not talking about what to call relatives/neighbors/friends etc. I already know the answer to that.

Um yea, I don't really care what they "prefer" here. I'm the parent and my child is not going to call me by my first name. Over and done.

This is so strange. I do not know a single child who calls their parents by first name (excluding step-parents, or parents who were unknown until adulthood)

Anonymous wrote:My kids haven't thought of doing anything differently than mom and dad, but if they did, I would tell them that I prefer to be called mom.

why?

my kid calls me mom but I don't think I'd care if she called me by my first name.

My son went through a phase of trying to call me by my first name. I told him ANYONE can call me that, but only my children get the privilege of calling me mom. He came back to the kitchen the next morning calling me mom. It was like two days.

I don’t give a Foch

Anonymous wrote:What if they prefer to call you by your first names?

Note: I am not talking about what to call relatives/neighbors/friends etc. I already know the answer to that.

If you permitted this and then have habituated it over time, you created this preference, not them. I don't particularly like this because my relationship with my children is that of a parent, not a friend or other relative.

Also, not to necessarily conflate the two, but one of the short-comings I see with some parents is their failure to fully commit to the parenting role and instead act like a friend - your kids don't need a friend, they need a parent - don't succumb to this, it's a disservice to your child and quite frankly, a bit lazy.

My kids haven't thought of doing anything differently than mom and dad, but if they did, I would tell them that I prefer to be called mom.

Anonymous wrote:You use titles & Mr./Mrs unless the person specifies otherwise. If someone says “call me by my first name,” the child is to oblige.

That is exactly what she WASNT asking.

Yes I make my kids do what I tell them to do. Because I said so is as valid now as it was for my parents!

Why is this even a question?

You use titles & Mr./Mrs unless the person specifies otherwise. If someone says “call me by my first name,” the child is to oblige.

Yes. It’s a sign of respect to call people what they want to be called, and my husband and I want to be called Mom and Dad.

What if they prefer to call you by your first names?

Note: I am not talking about what to call relatives/neighbors/friends etc. I already know the answer to that.