I’ve been thinking about this topic lately as Sam gets older and starts having little playmates at school etc… I grew up calling my parents’ friends by their first names, but I always called my friends’ parents Mr./Mrs. _____. I don’t recall ever being “taught” that necessarily, it just made sense. (Funny little side note: Jeff’s mom is still listed in my cell phone as “Mrs. Chapman” because I added her to my contacts when Jeff and I were in high school and newly boyfriend/girlfriend. This cracks me up every time now since – especially being a teacher – I am very much “Mrs. Chapman” these days, but I don’t change it because it’s just so sweet and nostalgic to me.)
Anyway… I think I like the following “rules” for kids addressing adults:
My friends’ kids call me Elizabeth. (Or E)
My kids’ friends call me Mrs. Chapman. (These are their hypothetical school friends etc. that I don’t really know… I guess? I’m kind-of undecided on this one. Do I want them to call me Elizabeth too? Is that too “let’s be BFFs”? Clearly I’m over-thinking this.)
My kids call my friends by their first name. (If they are OK with it.)
My kids call their friends’ parents Mr./Mrs. (unless otherwise instructed by the aforementioned BFF parents ;))
I’ve been thinking that I’m not a big fan of the whole “Miss Elizabeth” thing, but then I remembered that we totally call our babysitter Miss Jennifer, so… Who even knows what I think?!?
What do you teach your kids when it comes to addressing adults? More importantly, how do you teach it? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!!
Almost Friday,
E
P.S. Thanks for the feedback on my Stitch Fix post yesterday. Pretty sure they won’t be contacting me to be their ambassador for a while. 😉 (If you missed my review/critique, check it out here.)