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View Full Version : What Do Your Grandchildren Call Your Friends?


Grandma_Bananarama
07-01-2007, 04:47 PM
When I was a child, I would have never dreamed of calling an adult by their first name. It was a familiarity which wasn't allowed by children. I have only one adult whom I called by her first name and she was my mother's best friend and my second mother. Anyone from church, my friend's parents, to the checkout lady at the grocery store were all Mr. Mrs. or Miss Surname.

I raised my children to respect adults in the same fashion. It was unacceptable to call an adult by their first name. In turn, their friends called me Mrs. V*****. I believe that separation creates a barrier where authority is born.

Children these days call adults by their given name as if it is the most natural thing in the world. I have learned to compromise with my grandchildren. It is a Southern tradition to call adults by their first name by adding Miss or Mister first. My friends are their friends, but I want them to know they have the same authority as me when their behavior is called into question.

Have we come so PC about children's rights we have lost the common sense to teach them the respect of elders?
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Grandma_Bananarama
09-05-2007, 09:39 PM
No, I understood exactly what you meant, and that is how I am training the kids to address adults. I broached this subject on another forum I am addicted to, and you would be amazed at the number of adults that thought I was making something out of a non-issue. To be fair, I'm probably older than most of the people there, so that might have something to do with it. Keep it up Nannie. Repect for their elders might come into fashion again. Our kids will be ahead of the game. LOL