Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Hello, My Name is...

Da-boo. Yep, that's my name or at least what my son calls me. Not mommy, mom, or even ma. I'm Da-boo or sometimes Da-bee.

Today, I have finally come to the realization that my son, although far from being a teenager, is calling me by my first name. Nevermind the fact that he's been calling his father, daddy for months now. I'm on a first name basis with him.

Linus will on occasion parrot my husband calling for me to come give him a goodnight kiss. I'll be in the other room and hear, "Maaa..." said no louder than a whisper. You see, whispering is reserved for words he's not yet comfortable using.

I can't hold Linus responsible for thinking that he should call me Abby and not mommy. Who does he ever hear refer to me as mommy? Everyone calls me Abby. Why should he be any different?

It's just a hard pill to swallow. I've dreamed for years of being someone's Mommy and instead I'm his Abby. Oh well, we'll get there eventually. We always do.



9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hm...your husband doesn't call you mommy in front of him? I referred to myself as Mommy forever (i.e. "Mommy will be right with you."). That's cute how he's working on your name, though.

Midwest Mom said...

You know my three are school age, still you never know when they're going to pull out the ole' first name... The other night I asked my three year old to go tell Daddy it was time for dinner. She went to the bottom of the steps and hollered, "JO-oe! It's time for DIN-ner!"

It sounded *identical* to my voice. I thought, what have I done? And then I laughed myself red in the face. :)

Thanks for the post, Mama.
-MM

Chimpsea said...

It must be because that's what he hears you being called. I've always found it awkward when people call each other mommy and daddy, but I guess then you don't have this problem! To each his or her own. Maybe I'll change my mind, but really the thought of Jonathan calling me mommy, not just referring to me as mommy, really creeps me out. :) And now I'm doomed to have children who call me Chelsea.

Anonymous said...

My friends' little girl called them "David" and "Lisa" for YEARS. And then the next kid came along and did the same thing, since that's what his sister called them. I guess it didn't bother them enough to correct them. Bill and I pretty much always refer to each other as "Mommy" and "Daddy" in front of Lily. But recently she has started mimicking me calling "Bi-ill!" down the stairs to his office. Pretty funny. I bet you'll be "Mommy" in no time!

Unknown said...

I was always worried about this happening with my oldest cause I had a step-son who called me by my first name.
I just always referred to myself in third person all the time. Like "Mama loves you."

I don't worry about me at all this time around- but with the baby i am baking I am worried it will come out calling my new Husband, Scott, because that is what all my kids call him. Sometimes his own 7yo Daughter calls him Scott because she is around my 3.

I am sure you will be mommy or mama soon - you just maybe need to have the daddy start calling you that too.

Missy said...

Take comfort in the fact that if you're ever separated from Linus, he'll know that your name is Abby and not just Mommy! :D I remember one day (taking a line from my own mother) telling my kids I was going to change my name b/c I was so tired of hearing, "Mom, MOM, Mommy, Mama, MOOOOOOOMMMMM" coming from their mouths every few minutes...so they turned and started yelling, "MISSY"! It doesn't really matter, because it's YOU who he wants and you'll always come running no matter what name he calls you.

Daisy said...

The D sounds is a little easier on baby tongues than the M is, believe it or not. Encourage Mama, and it'll come. You're too special to be called anything else.

Marty, a.k.a. canape said...

I'm finding it incredibly endearing - but I know that I would want CC to call me "mama" and not "marty." But, it's really kind of cute from the outside :)

Anonymous said...

My oldest son called me by my first name until he was probably 7 or 8. Well, there WERE alot of "mom"s in the house at the time. It never bothered me. He's 18 now.
My other kids never called me by my first name, but they used to call their dad by his name alot. Its just what they hear.