Why is this something to get upset about?

Do you know what happens in ERs and ICUs, when patients are in pain and desperate, or dying?

All sorts of pet names, and Mommy/Daddy comes out, regardless of how old people are.

And that's GOOD. It's HEALTHY. Don't ever shame someone for using those names.

Anonymous wrote:I say Daddy and Mama sometimes. Or dad and mom? I don’t really think about it.

Same. I’m from Virginia. OP, why is this an issue?

I find Mommy/Daddy infantile and we transition out of it by the elementary school. What's wrong with Mom and Dad, it's even shorter?

I'm not from the South and we're not rich. I'm in my 40's and call my parents Mommy and Daddy. My dad and his siblings called their parents Mommy and Daddy. Don't care what anyone thinks about it.

My MIL still calls her parents Mama and Daddy, and they died 30 years ago. It's...creepy.

Mater and Pater if you're truly well-bred.

My teen girls still call us Mommy and Daddy, which I find sweet. But yes, this should stop once they are off the payroll.

I say Daddy and Mama sometimes. Or dad and mom? I don’t really think about it.

LOL no this is not a NY elite thing.

Ever

I’m probably in the category you’re talking about- NYC trust fund kid? I’m not in touch with either parent anymore but I called my father “dad” or”Johnny” and didn’t call my mother anything.

My dad is from rural VA, and he and all my aunts and uncles (grew up poor) always called their parents "daddy" and "mama". One set of my cousins from this side of the family do the same (they grew up in their hometown). Me and my brother and another set of cousins who did not grow up in the hometown do not do this.

My co-worker (grew up poor), who is from a different town in rural VA, consistently calls her mother "mama." She didn't know her father. She's 58.

My SIL (grew up middle class), from NJ, calls her mother either mom or mommy. She's 55. So does SIL's cousin who is in her early 40's.

I am in my 30s, my family isn’t rich, and I sometimes use Mommy or Daddy. I use Mama a lot too.

What are they supposed to call them, by their first names?

Calling your dad Daddy as an adult is definitely a southern thing.

Is this a rich person thing? A NYC thing? Twice recently I've come across teenagers or parents of teenagers using these terms and I was surprised.