<p>Does your son or daughter’s significant other call you Mr./Mrs. last name, your first name, something else?</p>
<p>If they don’t really “call” you anything, how do you refer to yourself to them (maybe if you were calling them and needed to identify yourself)?</p>
<p>My kids’ friends ALL refer to me as Mrs. Thumper (well…they use my REAL name). Once they graduate from college, they call me by my first name.</p>
<p>You know…it’s funny…but I still call the parents of my friends from high school and college (those who are still living)…Mr. and Mrs. Whatevertheirlastnameis.</p>
<p>My parents’ rule was that I called anyone more than 10 years older than me Mr./Mrs. They were real sticklers on this. They were teachers. That might have had an impact, but I think it’s how most kids my ages were taught.</p>
<p>I see this happen very infrequently among kids today. My kids’ friends all called me by my first name and it doesn’t bother me. S’s GF calls me by my first name. That’s ok. I never really knew what to call my MIL, so I just never used a name, which was rather awkward. Then again, I was never known for my social graces…</p>
<p>I call my friend’s parents…
Mrs. Tiffany’s Mom
or Mr. Jason’s Dad-it makes them laugh and they remember me next time I see them.</p>
<p>my situation is a fun one</p>
<p>my bf has the same last name as me 
itz rather strange on the tongue to say hello mr./mrs. my own last name…</p>
<p>We have a lot of young people working for us , some of whom are or were our kid’s friends…it was an awkward transition to go from Mrs and Mr to our first names , but that is what we are comfortable with. We don’t feel any lack of respect from younger people who address us by our names, as long as they know us. </p>
<p>I am more uncomfortable with anyone who shortens my husband’s name to a more commonly used nick-name , and that happens ALL the time</p>
<p>When I have had the need to call my kids’ bf/gf (or any friend), I say this is “firstname lastname, kid’sname’s mom” then move onto the reason I called.</p>
<p>My DS’s GF calls my wife and I by our first names. At first she called us Mr & Mrs, but once it became apparent this was a serious, committed relationship we asked her to use our first names.</p>
<p>D’s bf calls me by my first name (int :D). I introduced myself by just my first name when I met him, and made sure D told him it was okay to call me that. If I talk to him on the phone, I say, “Hi, 'bf, this is ‘int’”. Just to reiterate it. I figure if D marries him (could happen!), we won’t have an awkward transition. However, my ex-H is VERY strict about being called “Mr.” D also informed bf of this. </p>
<p>That said, I still don’t know what to call my parents’ friends (all in their 80s). I am almost 50, and my parents talk constantly about these people by their first names. So… I avoid calling them anything… I want to send an e-mail to one of them who gave me a book recently that I loved, and I don’t know how to start it!</p>
<p>My college son’s GF started calling me Mrs.<strong><em>, but I asked her to call me by my first name, so now she does. My HS daughter’s BF has so far avoided calling me anything yet, LOL, but I would imagine he would call me Mrs.</em></strong>_ unless I said otherwise.</p>
<p>It was a relief when my son was born, because then I could call my mother-in-law by the family “grandma name.” Before then I avoided using a name because I was uncomfortable calling her by her first name.</p>
<p>I don’t like it when kids address me by my first name, but I don’t generally make an issue of it. I know many adults don’t mind it, or actually prefer it. I was raised to think that is rude, and I can’t help feeling that it is.</p>
<p>She’d darned well better call me Mr. Suzuki or Sir unless and until I invite her to call me Mantori. To call me Mantori right off the bat would be rude. To avoid calling me anything at all would be stupid and annoying.</p>
<p>Exceptions: For some odd reason, I don’t mind if my son’s friends call me Tommy’s Dad. “Hi, Tommy’s Dad!” I think it’s kind of funny. I don’t know why. Similarly, Mr. S doesn’t bother me a bit. It makes me feel like a favorite teacher or something.</p>
<p>If they knew me really well, I wouldn’t mind if they just called me Dad, but so far no one has gotten to know me that well.</p>
<p>Mrs. mafool.
Someday I may suggest otherwise, but for now, I don’t want to imply a greater degree of intimacy; this is their relationship.</p>
<p>Mr. Suzuki- It must tickle some universal parental funny bone-they all laugh when I call them Mr. Kevin’s Dad.</p>
<p>The only person who calls us by Mr & Mrs. is my D’s boyfriend. D’s classmates and friends grew up calling the parents by their first names. This was a group of highly capable kids that were together from 1st grade. This might be reflective of the Pacific Northwest casual attitude towards such things. I think the only person my D ever called Mr. or Mrs. is our neighbors across the street who specifically requested it - their college senior daughter still calls us Mr. & Mrs.</p>
<p>As for D’s BF, if I sign a card or note to him I always use our first names. We don’t see the BF very often as he is away at school. At some point we will let him know he’s welcome to call us by our first names. But for now it’s kind of fun to be Mr. & Mrs.</p>
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<p>This is what I always done out of respect. They have never said, “Oh, call us Tom, and Mary”, so I have continued to call these people Mr. and Mrs. Xyz. My husband thinks that this is absolutely strange, and that I should just start calling them by their first names (in fact he told me that 25 years ago). I don’t feel comfortable doing that, so when DH is around, I try not to call them by name at all (same as intparent, I try to avoid calling them a name). The whole thing is awkward and a bit silly.</p>
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<p>My boyfriend’s siblings were all 10 years older than me. (he was the baby…) I’m thinking calling them Mr./Mrs. <his lastname=“”> would have been insulting. On the other hand, his exwife was also over 10 years older than me, if I ever had the chance to meet her I think I would have gone with Mrs. <his last=“” name=“”>. :-)</his></his></p>
<p>They call me by my first name at my request. That is what I prefer.</p>
<p>About 10 years ago I had to call many of my parent’s friends because we were planning a surprise anniversary party for my parents. I had forgotten until reading this thread, but it was incredibly awkward to call them because of this issue :)</p>
<p>By the way, our rule for our kids has been that they call adults Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. or Miss unless they have been explicitly invited to do otherwise. </p>
<p>I do find some of the comments here about “someday” allowing bf/gfs to call you by your first name interesting. Maybe because this is such a power issue between my kids and my ex-husband… they really hate his inflexibility on this issue, and he has embarrassed them with it a few times. It seems like there is some “magic threshold” of intimacy (or adulthood?) that younger people would have to cross to have the privilege of using his first name. I want my kids bfs/gfs to feel welcome and comfortable from the first day I meet them, not “someday”. I don’t want them to have to struggle with this issue, so I make it easy from the start. It would feel so awkward to ask them to switch at some point. Now if one of my Ds brought a partner home that I disapprove of, maybe then I will come out with, “Hi, I’m Ms. Parent”. My kids would know in an instant that I didn’t want that person to feel welcome!</p>
<p>My kids also grew up calling all adults by their first names. They went to an elementary school where teachers were called by first name. When we leave our community and someone calls me Mrs. Husband’s last name (which is not mine), I think they’re talking to my MIL. It makes me feel instantly like I’m in Leave it to Beaver Land. It doesn’t bother me, but I do insist on S & D’s significant others call me by my first name. Absolutely no one calls me Ms. Mousegray.</p>