Thursday, March 19, 2009

Mommy & Daddy

No, not mine. Yours.

What do you call them?

Is saying Daddy a southern thing? Yes, yes you know why I'm asking. Yes, yes I know I should ignore her. I do!!! 98% of the time I scroll right past her posts without reading them. But every once in awhile a word here and there will jump out before I can scroll past. And lately it's "Daddy this" and "Daddy that" that jumps out and I want to ask her how old she is. But maybe it's a southern thing?

Is it?

Yes I'm asking you Boo, since you're our resident southern dimwit. *grin*

19 comments:

Puffy said...

As adults, I called my parents Mom and Dad; my kids call us Mom and Dad. My sister would call my father, "Daddy," which I thought was strange.

Bravie said...

It isn't just a southern thing but yes it is a big southern thing. My Mom and her sister (raises in the south) both called their father "Daddy". Even now when referring to him they call him Daddy.
I use Mommy and Daddy when referring to them at times but not when I am talking to them.
But to answer your question, yes, it is a southern thing. My friend Susie also calls her dad "Daddy".

Swami said...

*waits for the coming Boo smackdown*

Swami said...

My folks were mommy and daddy until I was about 8 y.o., then they morphed into mom and dad.

My evil sister called dad "daddy" all her life. She still refers to him as "daddy". The other 3 kids in my family were all like me - he was 'dad'.

Breezy said...

Darn I was hoping the Boo smackdown would be here by now. *pout*

MM said...

My mom and her siblings all called their dad 'daddy' and their mom was just 'mom'. I never liked it, myself. I also prefer that married people don't call each other momma or daddy, but that's my own weird thing, I guess. Oh, and my mother's family lived in a tiny mountain town, if that explains anything, lol. *shrug*

darcidoe said...

I call my dad "daddy-doo" and "father kind and dear". I also sometimes call him a dork, but he totally deserves it.

Breezy said...

Yeah, but you also call Mom "Mother Dearest"... and she never ever beat us with wire hangers. Or maybe I've just surpressed those memories.

Duh, he is a dork.

darcidoe said...

It's "Mommie Dearest". And yes you have suppressed the memories.

Breezy said...

See! I even suppressed the name. LOL

yvonne said...

Like Swami, I called them mommy and daddy until I was about 7 or 8 -- then it was mom and dad. My friend Susan is from South Carolina and still calls her parents "momma" and "daddy". Susan is 53.

It is a big southern thing. When I hear a grown woman with a southern accent talk about her "daddy" I immediately flash back to Dixie Carter and Delta Burke in "Designing Women". *grin*

kim (weltek) said...

I thought it was just me that was hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. And aren't there two mm's in momma?

I know it's a big southern thing, but that doesn't mean I have to like it, just like everyone doesn't have to love cheese curds. :-)

I don't remember ever calling my mom & dad "mommy and daddy," but I'm sure I did at some point.

kim (weltek) said...

Oh, and MM-I totally agree about married couples calling eachother "ma" and "pa" and such. I told Chris I'd kill him if he started doing that.

Breezy said...

Yes! Fingernails on the chalkboard, that is exactly how I would describe it.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry I didn't see this before. Honestly, I only check in here about once a week. I don't know that you will completely like my answer. *grin*

I would say it's more likely a southern thing, but I don't think it's unheard of in other areas.

Conner calls us Mommy and Daddy. I think Michael would prefer to just be called Dad. I like being called Mommy, but I imagine at some point, he will shorten it on his own to Mom and Dad. And I hope that he will do that - not because of regional dialect, but I think at a certain age, he will just sound silly if he calls us Mommy and Daddy.

Michael called his mother what I would pronounce "Mumma" that until the day she died. When he wrote it, he wrote it is "mama," which I would pronounce "mah mah." I also would probably spell "mah mah" as Momma. I know others who do/did the same.

The "Daddy" thing is not strange to me at all. While I have heard that more in the south, I have also heard it from all over, and I usually hear women or girls saying it. I think there is a special relationship between fathers and daughters, and the daddy flows for me. It doesn't bother me at all. And I certainly like it more than calling him, "Father." If Conner were a girl, it wouldn't bother me to hear Daddy forever.

To elaborate a little further, in general talking to someone who knew my father, I can totally see referring to him as Daddy. In general discussion with people who did not know my father, I would likely refer to him as either "my dad" or "my father."

Ditto this for discussions about my mother.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and about ignoring her. I think you should. It's unhealthy. But I say this as someone who has let people push my buttons way too much. So easier said than done, I know.

The nails on the chalkboard equation I have is when a certain person constantly misuses apostrophes.

Julia said...

Mom is mom and dad is dad. They have been since I was about 5.

My mom still calls her mother "momma" on occasion, and has been known to refer to my deceased grandfather as "daddy" (when she's taking to my aunt or Uncle Lewis, who has been comatose for nearly three years). She is southern, though she has nothing resembling an accent. 35 years up north versus 22 in the south will do that, though.

maroonclown said...

I cal'l my M'om, "Mom", m'y MIL "Mom'ma (Last' N'ame)".

My Da'd pass'ed away w'hen I was six bu't I can pret'ty much gue'ss I wou'ld have gon'e the "D'addy" route' until may'be mid-twenties'.

lights said...

Silly M'Clown!

My Mom and Dad (as I call them) will be home this weekend and I will no longer have the house to myself. :(