What should children call non-family adults?

[Disney Doll]

I would add that growing up I addressed every adult as Mr., Mrs. or Miss Last name unless specifically instructed to do otherwise.

Even now, as an adult, there are still some folks that I simply cannot call by their first names.

 

[pixiewings71]

My kids friends all call me Mom, well the majority do. My kids call my friends who aren't related Aunt or Uncle, ie my best friend is Aunt Carrie and her DH is Uncle John, altho the majority of the time the girls call them Carrie & John. I would personally prefer that any of the kids friends that don't call me Mom call me Kerri.

 

[HelenePA]

I'm Helene and that's what I want, one of my dd9's friends calls me mom. I"m okay with that too but please I'm not Mrs. T or Mrs. P I never changed my name when I got married and my last name is not exactly easy.

 

[Kellydelly]

I think that kids should call adults by Mr or Mrs, depending on the relationship, though. I hate it when people tell their kids to call me Miss Kelly. I am not a preschool teacher . My last name is easy to pronounce. I grew up calling people by Mr and Mrs and I think it sounds respectful and that is what I tell my kids to do.

 

[SaraJayne]

Unless they are a teacher, my kids call adults by their first names.

I prefer to be called Sara. Don't call me Miss Sara, Mrs. Sara, Mrs. Lastname and you sure as heck better not call me Ma'am!

 

[goofy4tink]

Will admit to not having read the preceeding posts to mine. So, with that in mind, this may be repetitive. But.....my older kids' friends always called me Mrs whatever. They are 38 and 35. My youngest, 18, has one or two friends that have always called me Diane. Other adults were appalled, but it was a choice I made, back when these kids were about 3. Her other friends have called me Mrs B right up until last month. Now, there were a few precocious kids that decided it would be cute to call me Diane, so I returned the favor and called them Mr 'whatever' or Ms'whatever'. They got the message very quickly.
Now, they have graduated and I'm sure there are some that I have known forever that will be allowed to be more familiar now that they are 'adults'.

But, my dd has always use Mr, Mrs, etc., when addressing any adult..unless they told her to use their first name (which happened only once or twice). It's a form of respect. But, I'm sure that many of the kids that my dd grew up with will continue to call me MrsB....for a long time!!!

 

[traviesojmt]

Honestly it depends upon the relationship between families. If they are family friends, then Mr/Mrs First names is usually how we roll. We have a hard last name to pronounce to I personally prefer Mrs. Kim. When I taught pre-school, the children did call my Mrs. Kim. No need to hear my last name butchered 100 times per day.

However, my kids know that if they are not family friends or they are meeting an adult for the first time, it is always Mr/Mrs last name. For example, whenever we attend military events (DH is military) the kids always refer to adults with last name.

We have never done the "Aunt" route with non-relatives. Though, I personally think it just always comes down to what everyone is comfortable.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I think it is whatever the adult wants to be called. For me, it is Mrs. X because I am a teacher in the school my children attend. Our friends prefer our kids call them by their first names. To do otherwise would be rude IMO. I have one friend who is also a teacher and though she has known my kids since birth, they address her as Mrs. X.

This is my feeling as well, except that I prefer to be called by my last name.

It is not a big deal to me when kids call me by my last name at their parents insistence but it doe strike me as the parents being disrespectful to me by insisting that their kids use a name for me that I don't want to be called. Funny enough there was a conversation about this among the other girl scout leaders recently, I had not really thought about it until then.



For the record, I lived in east texasa until I was seven and my parents are both from there going back several generations. I think that qualifies as "the south" and I grew up calling most adults by their first names.

 

[shoney]

Unless they are a teacher, my kids call adults by their first names.

I prefer to be called Sara. Don't call me Miss Sara, Mrs. Sara, Mrs. Lastname and you sure as heck better not call me Ma'am!

Ma'am is like nails on a chalkboard to me!

 

[aimyourarrowshigh]

Other.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

Other ; it is up to that person
I was never brought up being called anyone anything specific. I never really pushed it on my kids either. My two did daycare on base and you were Miss laura or Miss Susie or whatever but that is as far as it has gone.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

Ma'am is like nails on a chalkboard to me!

Exactly. Just want to be Stephanie and that is it.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

I'm Helene and that's what I want, one of my dd9's friends calls me mom. I"m okay with that too but please I'm not Mrs. T or Mrs. P I never changed my name when I got married and my last name is not exactly easy.

Sounds like me I have an italian last name and my husbands is all of four letters. Some of the kids Call me Mrs. last name with four letter.....and no not those four letters

 

[fairestoneofall]

i grew up using Mr/Mrs/Miss lastname. in fact, there are still adults that i address in that way.

here in SC, we use Mr/Mrs/Miss firstname. and usually, the ladies are referred to as Miss firstname regardless of if they're married or not. i much prefer Miss Emily versus Mrs. mylastname.

 

[marcyinPA]

Most of my kids' friends call me Mrs. last name. My very close friends kids call me Aunt first name.

I am a leader for a small group at church, and the girls call me by my first name in small group, but Mrs. Last Name other times.

My neighbors- one calls me Miss first name, and the others always just referred to me by my first name- which is fine because they are now adults and there was no transition for them.

Honestly, this is one of those things that I just don't get bent over.

 

[bethy]

I've taught my kids that the default is Mr/Ms Last Name. And then if an adult requests that they call them something else then we respect their wishes.

 

[riley2008]

My momma's rule: Address anyone your parents' age and older with Mr/Mrs/Ms Lastname, unless told otherwise.

Never call someone "Miz" or "Mister". (Some kids really tend to do this a lot in schools.) You may say "Excuse me Ma'am" or "Sir".

And we ALWAYS say "yes Ma'am"/"no Ma'am" or "yes Sir"/"no Sir". Always. And we expect our kids friends to do the same. Luckily, their parents have the same values and expectations.

I have found this goes a LONG way in some environments. (For some this is really an issue of respect. Always better to err on this side...for me anyway. My brother got a job once as he was the only one interviewed out of five because of "his manners" . My mother still doesn't believe it!)

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Other: Is depends on the relationship, how close you and the child are to the other person, etc.

 

[mdsoccermom]

I invite kids to call me by my first name. If they choose not to, that's fine, but it's my preference.

I absolutely hate when kids refer to me as Miss Firstname. That drives me up the wall. I have an acquaintance who, when talking about me to her son, calls me Mommy Firstname (I've known her since our kids were babies). That makes me want to claw my eyes out.

I grew up calling several of my friends' parents by their first names.

 

[stargazer2892]

I chose other! I think Kids should refer to adults as Mr. and Ms. Unless, that adult tells them otherwise, OR introduces themselves as whatever they would like to be called. DS isn't going to grow up calling DH's best friend Mr. _____ (last name), it'll be Mr. Joe, just like his son calls DH and I by our first names preceded by Mr. and Ms. The only people I grew up calling them by their last names were my Dad's superiors in the Air Force then it was Rank ______.