Anonymous wrote:I'm 26 and still call my mother momma. I end every phone call with her with "I love you momma". I'm originally from Michigan.

I always referred to her as "my mom" but addressed her as "Mama" 'til she died at the age of 83. That put me well past my teens! I think "Mama" is sweet.

Anonymous wrote:Born and raised in Chevy Chase MD...I call my female parent "Mom" (80% of the time) and "Momma" (20% of the time). "Momma" is usually in a more lighthearted fashion.

Growing up, I heard my friends say "Mom" or "Momma"...I can't ever recall hearing anyone say "Mother." If we're calling "Mama/Momma" hillbilly, then I'd have to classify "Mother" and incredibly stuffy...what is this royal Victorian England?

Gee, I changed to Mother at 7 because I listened to my babysitter talk to "Mommy" on our phone for 20 minutes, bellyaching about having to supervise our chores (no, she didn't have to help). Given her infantile behavior, I wanted to show that I was more mature. By the time I realized that most people thought it was old-fashioned, it was habit, and as my mother and I don't care to change it, I'm not concerned if you think I sound stuffy.

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the Midwest. Kids born here in DC. They call me mama. Didn't know we were hillbillies.

I agree.

Born and raised in Chevy Chase MD...I call my female parent "Mom" (80% of the time) and "Momma" (20% of the time). "Momma" is usually in a more lighthearted fashion.

Growing up, I heard my friends say "Mom" or "Momma"...I can't ever recall hearing anyone say "Mother." If we're calling "Mama/Momma" hillbilly, then I'd have to classify "Mother" and incredibly stuffy...what is this royal Victorian England?

I think it is a very natural sound for children to make.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm from the Midwest. Kids born here in DC. They call me mama. Didn't know we were hillbillies.

Boston (transplant) hillbilly here, too.

I never knew about this association before. Mommy in kids/adults older than 5 is looked down on, though.

Boston native here. I call my own mother Mama, the shortened form of which is Mum. It's Mum-a, not Mah-ma for us. My oldest is 7 and says it this way. Think is is fairly common in Mass.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We are not hillbillies. DD started calling me mama as a baby, and hasn't ever stopped so far. Those who look down on mama, did your kids learn to say mom or mommy immediately? I thought mama was a pretty common early word for babies to learn.

This. Mine is not yetwo, but calls me mama. It's how he learned it!

Anonymous wrote:In what area of the country do people use mama?

I was born and raised here and the norm seems to be mommy/mom.

It's big in the south. Parents there are typically referred to as "Mama and Daddy." This is true even of grown adults, who still call their own parents that. Hate it, hate it, hate it!

5yr old alternateves between Mommy and Mama. Calls her father Daddy.

I know eventually she will switch to Mom, but I treasure the sweetness of both those terms and hope they last for a long time!

Anonymous wrote:Mama and papa are either hillbillies or pretentious hipsters with "two Ivy League degrees" or foreign. My data
Is from a well funded quantitative study with a measurable sample size. Or I just make broad generalizations based on the douche bags I encounter who force their kids to call them mama and pApa.

How would you know someone forces her kid to call her mama? The point of this thread is about what kids choose to call their parents. The only ones who sound like they are forcing their kids to say or not say any particular form or those who refuse to be called mama. It is the anti-mama crowd who are doing the forcing, not the other way around.

I'm mama , mom, and sometimes still mommy . 12 and 10 boy and girl. From Midwest

Mama and papa are either hillbillies or pretentious hipsters with "two Ivy League degrees" or foreign. My data
Is from a well funded quantitative study with a measurable sample size. Or I just make broad generalizations based on the douche bags I encounter who force their kids to call them mama and pApa.

Hmmmm, I switched from calling my mother Mama to Mother when I was 7. My siblings continued to call her Mommy for a few more years, then switched to Mom. She's still Mother to me, Mom to them.

As for mine, not yet.

My kids, 13 and 8, still call me Mama. It never occurred to me it was redneck, not being one and all. To think of my parents ever being called that is kind of hilarious. Maybe its a southern thing to hate it?

Still mommy for my 12 and 15 year old, although the 15 year old sometimes uses my first name. Neither of them likes "mom," which is too bad.

As for me, I'm a northeasterner and went through a long "ma" and "pa" phase with my own parents. No hillbilly ancestors.