"My Name Isn't Mommy!"

on January 26, 2009 at 12:42 PM

My boys as babies!

"Moooommmmmmm!" shouts my older son up the stairs (when he can just as easily come up here, or maybe, just maybe, even wait until I'm off the toilet).

"Yes?! Good lord (under my breath). WHAT IS IT?!" I shout back down the stairs.

"My crayon broke! Can you help me find another purple crayon?" Here's where my eyes roll up into the back of my head and threaten to get stuck there. Breathe.

"Mommy's busy right now!" I shout back, in a voice generally weak from answering ill-timed, ridiculous requests--and from answering them while on the GD commode. Then all of a sudden, I hear myself talking and I crack up so hard I almost fall off the seat. Mommy's busy right now. Um, why do I refer to myself as "Mommy?"

Actually, why do any of us do that is what I'd like to know. It was my best friend, J, who doesn't yet have children of her own, who first asked me that really good question. I was stumped then, and I guess I still am now. I mean, do normal people go around referring to themselves in the third person?

Mommy's busy. Mommy's tired. Mommy'll be right there. Mommy loves you. Mommy is disappointed--go over there and apologize to your brother before Mommy puts you on time out!

My name is not even Mommy!

When talking to your kids, do you constantly refer to yourself as "Mommy?" Uh, why?

Filed Under: behavior, discipline

Comments (25)

dsteiner23

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:00 PM

I totally do refer to myself as Mommy! I know how it starts - we label everyone in the ways we want our children to refer to us as they begin speech, but somewhere along the line we forget to drop that once our children are competent speakers.

Funny side note: I was noticing on Facebook the other day how awkward it is to do their status updates in the third person.

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Cafe Kierna

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:08 PM

Hilarious. Okay, not that you've nailed how it starts, make it stop!

richgirljj

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:10 PM

Not always.... but sometimes.

SteeleMommasita

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:16 PM

omg...I didn't realize but I do...and my youngest is 10...lol

Acid

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:31 PM

Yes I do. My 11 year old knows my first name, but my three year old doesn't know I have a name other than mommy. My husband and I try to keep saying Mommy/Daddy if we need the other one to see something, come into a room, etc...

DixieRoadrash

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:47 PM

HAHAHAHA!!!!!! That a good question. I do it to. LMAO!

AllAboutKeeley

on Jan 26, 2009 at 2:49 PM

My name is Mommy and I'm darn proud of it!! I call myself Mommy as much as possible and wouldn't have it any other way...

NovemberLove

on Jan 26, 2009 at 3:17 PM

Maybe we subconsciously start doing it when they're infants so they'll learn our names, eager to hear the first "mamamaaa" or "dadadaaa" come out of their mouths? Maybe it just sticks after that? The story leading up to the question was funny and reminded me of myself as a child. If I yelled through the house, my mother refused to acknowledge me. "You can come find me if you need something, this is not the playground where we bellow to our friends" she would say.