# Would you mind if I called you mother? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-i-called-you-mother/381598 "2006-11-24T01:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-i-called-you-mother/381598/41 "2006-11-26T00:57:13Z")
Well, if one of my kids had a friend that had grown particularly attached to me, they could probably call me “Mom” or “Mama”. Likewise, if I was in a store, and someone was addressing a child of mine, in reference to me, they could properly refer to me as “Mother” or “Mom”; for instance, the grocery store I shop in frequently has free cookies. If my six year old wants one, a lady behind the counter will sometimes look at me and say “Is that alright, Mom?”. That’s fine. She’s making it clear to my little girl that she’s asking _my_ permission before allowing the child to take a cookie. I can even _kind_ of see it in a friendly, somewhat familiar term if I’m pregnant (I’ve heard comments like “You look tired, Mommy”). But for random people to just start calling my “Mom” or “Mother”? Uh, no. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-i-called-you-mother/381598/42 "2006-11-26T01:44:38Z")
Perhaps the book was an old Emily Post? Some of the older books can be unintentionally funny, and very anachronistic. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-i-called-you-mother/381598.md?page=2)