nest editors' blog

about this blog

The latest product picks, tips, and ideas from The Nest Editors.

topics on this blog

Friday, May 11, 2007 9:51 AM

Do you call your MIL "mom?"

With Mother's Day just around the corner, I'm sure many of us Nesties will be hosting the obligatory brunch with the ILs to wish MIL a happy Mother's Day. How do you address your MIL? Do you call her "mom" or use her first name or something else? I call my MIL by her first name, Lyne, and it seems to be working for us. In the past she has referred to me as her daughter, which I think is sweet, but I just don't feel comfortable calling her "mom."  Maybe it's because I just became a mother myself and I realize how precious that title truly is! For me, I only have ONE "mom."

DH also calls my parents by their first names. I don't think my father understood that at first, since he calls his own ILs "mom" and "dad." Maybe it's a generational thing.

What do you call your ILs?

Posted by Bump Lori
Filed under:

Comments

re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call them "Mom" and "Dad"... although I just didn't call them *anything* for the longest time and found other ways to get their attention! haha

After 8 years of marriage though, I'm just used to it now.

Posted by Knot Heather    Friday, May 11, 2007 9:02 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call her Patty.  I call my FIL Carl.  DH has to call my dad Mr. Last Name, but that's just because my dad is super formal and we don't see him often or have a close relationship with him.  I think he calls my mom Miss B because he was friends with my brother way before he ever met me, and that's what he's always called her.

Posted by edmo    Friday, May 11, 2007 11:21 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

yes I call them mom and dad even though I HATE it! I dont really care for my mil so calling her mom just makes me mad because she is not my mom! ahhh!

Posted by godsgrace    Friday, May 11, 2007 12:23 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my MIL by her first name.   I see my FIL rarely and am not close to him, so I feel weird calling him anything.  I just try to address him face-to-face so I never have to call his name to get his attention!

Posted by WriterChick24    Friday, May 11, 2007 12:35 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I just use their first names, and Dh does the same w/ my parents.

Posted by EmilyMo    Friday, May 11, 2007 2:23 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my MIL and FIL by their first names.  I made up my mind to find out what they wanted to be called very soon after meeting them because my parents have been married 33 years and my father still doesn't call his IL's ANYTHING!

Posted by KateandEd    Friday, May 11, 2007 2:35 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

DH and I call our ILs by their first names. Of course, Dh has called his own parents by their first names ever since we have been together, so we never had to go down the "mom and dad" road.

Posted by Renza7    Friday, May 11, 2007 2:36 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I just go with their first name,  though I didn't call them anything before the marriage.  I have a mom and dad,  and I feel they earned the title to just be theirs.   It is easier for them to think of you as one of their children,  but most people only have their one mom.

Posted by leiakat    Friday, May 11, 2007 2:40 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my IL's by their first names, and DH does the same with mine. I tried calling my ILs Mom and Dad a few times, and it just felt too weird.

Posted by NuGrrlNTwn    Friday, May 11, 2007 3:00 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

My MIL said to me before the wedding, that I could call her "Mom."  I blew it off not trying to be rude but I have a mom.  I will always call her Mrs "First Name."  That is the same thing that DH calls my mom.  I believe that it is disrespectful to my mom if I call someone else mom too.

Posted by LuckynTigger    Friday, May 11, 2007 3:27 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

It's funny how these end up working out...before our engagement party, I would call my future ILs by their first names...at our engagement party (that they graciously hosted) after everyone was gone, my MIL asked what I was going to call them, and just ask that it not be Mr. and Mrs.....so I call my MIL: Mom "Her Last Name" and my DH calls my mom : Mom "Her First Name" - As far as FILs go, I usually refer to him as Dad, because I don't  talk to mine, so he's not usurping anyone's title!  I know both my mom and stepdad, and my DH's parents think of both my husband and I as their kids...and we all have a good relationship, so it hasn't really gotten sticky yet.  Also I have some girlfriends whose Moms I am close to and I either call them Mom, or Mom "Their Last Name"...

Posted by enufisenuf    Friday, May 11, 2007 3:48 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my IL's " Mom and Pop". I never felt comfortable calling them by their first names and until we got engaged I had always called them Mr and Mrs 'last name'. DH calls my mom "Mom" and my dad, John (i'm not very close with my dad). It has been this way since we got engaged.

Posted by Bill&Cheryl    Friday, May 11, 2007 4:50 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my inlaws by their first names.  However, DH calls my parents Mom & Dad.  

Posted by rae76    Saturday, May 12, 2007 10:11 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I called my MIL by her first name (at her request) for the 6 years we were dating.  Then, AT THE WEDDING she asked me to start calling her mom.  It's been almost a year and it's so weird.  My mom always called my father's parents Mom & Dad, and my dad  called my mom's parents by their first names.  It's hard, too, b/c my MIL lost her only daughter right before DH & I started dating.  So, I feel very strange calling her mom sometimes.  It's growing on me, but I can't wait until we have kids and I can just refer to her as grandma!!

Posted by LDCtobe    Saturday, May 12, 2007 5:00 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

My mil doesn't like me enough to allow me to call her mom. But dh calls my mom, Mom and they both love it. He understands the situation between us is tense so he doesn't expect much in that area.

Posted by Nickie_t    Saturday, May 12, 2007 11:29 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call them by their first names, despite the fact that they refer to me as their daughter. They are constantly confusing people by talking about their "son and daughter," and then having to explain that we're not siblings, we're married, LOL.

As much as I love them, calling them Mom and Dad just feels weird to me. I have my own Mom and Dad. They've always just let me call them whatever I wanted to.

Posted by HobbesRN    Sunday, May 13, 2007 6:35 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call them (sp?)Ohma (Korean word for mom) and Dad.  Which is what they want me to call them.  Dh calls my mom, Mom, which she said it didn't matter.  We all know who our parents are, but we all still want to feel like we are a family now.  Its a little weird but we are getting used to it.

Posted by IeshaShanks    Sunday, May 13, 2007 12:51 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my in-laws by their first names, even though they refer to me as their daughter and told me I could call them Mom & Dad.  I'm not that close to them, and it felt too weird.  Now they sign all emails, cards, and letters to DH and I as: Mom/First Name and Dad/First Name.  I'm not sure if that means they're offended, or if they are respecting my wishes.  DH calls my parents by their first names, but any card to both of us is just signed Mom and Dad.  If the card is just to DH, it's signed First Name & First Name.

Posted by mat9611    Monday, May 14, 2007 10:38 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

Yep.  I have called them Mom and Dad since before we got engaged.  

Posted by spunkielexis196    Monday, May 14, 2007 10:44 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I go back and forth between calling them "Mr. / Mrs. Last Name" or by their first names.  I seriously need to make up my mind what I'm going to call them!  DH's dad always talks about how I and my BIL (married to DH's sister) are "his children" now.  I try to understand and appreciate what he means by that, but it nonetheless makes me uncomfortable when he says that, because I am MY PARENT'S child!  I  can't see myself ever referring to them as "Mom and Dad" because I love my own parents too much and feel that they are the only ones who will ever hold that role for me.  

Posted by bellabride3315    Monday, May 14, 2007 11:15 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I call my in-laws Mr. and Mrs. LastName.  That is what they sort of expect.  Or I can call them Mr. and Mrs. LastInitial, but I don't usually.  My DH calls my parents by their first names.

Posted by MrsCasey2B    Monday, May 14, 2007 2:17 PM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

I don't call my IL's "Mom & Dad." I refer to them by their first names. My DH calls my parents by their first names too. I don't my IL's deserve to be called "Mom & Dad," only because they are not my parents and after all of the nasty things they have done and said to me, they won't be mom & dad to me. I have my own set of parents.

Posted by katiempallen    Tuesday, May 15, 2007 6:39 AM


re: Do you call your MIL "mom?"

Heck no! I only have one mom, and that is the wonderful lady who gave me life and raised me to be a fine person! Ha, ha.

Seriously though, that title is too precious to use it on my MIL. She's a nice lady and all, but she'll never be my "mom".

Posted by bluespatula    Tuesday, July 03, 2007 9:38 AM


Anonymous comments are disabled