Names my children call me...
Marmee! Charming little name for when they are out in garden and want to know when tea is.
Mum! called sweetly from bedroom when looking for School Uniform.
Um. Mummy? Diffident tone used when have Broken Something. Only One Child uses this at a time. Others Lurk in Worried Fashion out in hall.
Mum-MEE When I am being particularly Thick about something.
Mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Mummy? Used when I am Having A Conversation On The Phone. A highly Repetitive Call designed to Break Me Down. It Works.
MAAAAAAAAAAAMMMEEEEEEEEEE! Shout used when Can't Find Pants (as in 'under' for those of you across the Atlantic) and it is nearly time to go. Conveying Slight Sense of Urgency.
MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMM. Cross. Very Cross. Need Me Now. It usually means that I Am Not Wherever They Are and that Is Not Good Enough. Quite a good one to ignore, really.
MUUAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! Not Good. This means that something Catastrophic has happened, like they can't find the Peanut Butter or Someone has Hidden the Remote Control.
And my calls to them?
Just the one.
C-O-M-I-N-G!!!!
Silly Old Me.
20 comments:
Oh this takes me back, to when all my kiddies where living at home. Sometimes, I get a little misty eyed, and think that I miss those times...
...Then I come to my senses!
Love, love, love your blog. Honest to goodness I do!
Ah, the conversation on the phone one is really driving me mad at the moment! Also, the "MUMMEE" at 3 o'clock in the morning when she thinks there's a bug in her bed?*!
Yes I too think I have been called a few names in my time (if you see what I mean) but the one that has stuck is 'Marmee' - sometimes shortened to 'Marms'! They are grown up with children of their own now. A
Just a thought...You have a slew of readers, and maybe they could be of some help. You see, my little plastic dog, Percy, has been dognapped. I'm asking fellow bloggers to come to my site, to see the ransome note, with their own eyes, and then to go to the dognappers site, and plead for my baby's safe and timely return.
Maybe some pleading from "across the pond" will help to bring my Percy home ( and get me some NY bagels and cheesecake ).
My children have been known to call me Laura, which can be embarrassing in public.
Strangers look at me as if to say 'she is rollicking those children and they're not even hers'
NN - just keep making sure you come to your senses!! after the day I've had.... ggrrrrrr.
Oh dear... Percy been dog-napped... cant have that. Will go and investigate.
Have gone mad... pressed return button when hadnt finished my comment...
WM - oh, god, that call in the night. Or the one from the loo. Ought to add that one in really.
Anne - You being called Marmee was what made me write this post! Thanks for that...XX
Laura - oh, I know that one... aren't they devils. Or angels with horns...
You can't forget the earliest babbles, "Ma Ma". Those are among the sweetest sounds known to Mom.
And now that I have a teenager, I can add one more: mOOOm! (the I-can't-believe-you-are-embarrassing-me-in-front-of-my-friends Protest) :)
I recognise some of those! Sometimes I choose to ignore it. Have you ever tried that? I can recomend it!
Seriously? That's your only response? You are a BETTER mother than I. I have as many variations on WWWWHHHHAAAATTTTT?! as yours do on Mum. Do share HOW you maintain such delightful composure!
(And Marmee always makes me think of "Little Women" and they joy the girls always took in her arrival. I have aspired to be like her. I have failed.)
MrsMama - you are so right... they are sweet sounds indeed... better than the teenage variation on theme!
Suburbia - ignoring is good... do a lot of that. But nearly always say C-O-M-I-N-G-! first, and then ignore...oh dear, thats bad-mother-thing, isnt it...
Robynn - Will maybe do my variations of WHAAATTTT.... another time! You are right, best to not run to every need, and certainly dont do that... but mostly Do Say That I Am On My Way... even if it takes all day to get there... like today!
My 3 sons called me 'mommy' when they were young. My middle son soon changed to calling me 'mom' and my youngest, at 19, has only recently stopped calling me 'mumsie'. (He never called me that in front of his friends, of course!)
My eldest son, for some odd reason, continued to call me 'mommy' until leaving home, last year, at 25. This really made me smile, because he has a shaved head, an earring, an eyebrow ring and a tattoo!
I am called all of the names in your post but my response is usually 'in a minute' ( I suck) though with an Aspie son if I say 'a minute' then that is Egzakerly how long he gives me!
MM - That is so sweet! I love it when these great big hulking sons of ours call us something so child like... my eldest calls me Mama, but only when its just us. I dont think he even realises what he is saying..
DJK - Oh, yes, the In A Minute thing... do a lot of that. And love the Egzakerly!! Shades of my youngest there...
Oh my goodness...this post is hilariously funny! It takes me back to when Only Child was little. Now she is 32 with three kiddies of her own. Her names for me have evolved over the years. They range from Mom, to Doris (a nickname she and Doughboy call me when they need my attention), to Mummy (when she needs me to watch my granchildren). Nowadays I have a new name - Mimi - the name my grandchildren call me. That is my favorite :)
they haven't called you bitch yet, right? I thought not.
Can I add one. I now get 'Mother' and a look of disdain if I have said/done/chosen something that is completely uncool.
Debra - Mimi is such a sweet name... now where on earth did they find Doris??!
VM - give them time, VM, give them time....
Tawny - Yup!! I get that too... that look could kill a snake at 100 yards...
I always find it amazing how they sense that you are on the phone and then need your attention IMMEDIATELY and can not wait. It seems to be some inbuilt homing instinct, especially if it is the bank/work/taxman/anyone else that you want to sound sensible to and not have conversations with children in the middle of
Scrimcat - oh yes, that telephone, the purge of all parents... even if they are in the garden and you come in, tip toe'ing, to pick up that phone... they'll be there in seconds. Dammit.
Post a Comment