So my BF is coming home with me for Memorial Day to meet my family...and we realized that we have no idea what he should call my dad. I don't think my dad would be okay with him referring to him by his first name; my best friends call him either "Mr. Lastname" or "sir," but I think Mr. Lastname is a little silly if you're 24 like my BF is.
I brought it up kind of jokingly to my dad, who laughed it off and said BF could call him whatever he wants, but I know the boyf is going to be nervous as it is. The last thing I want him to worry about is what to call Pops.
I suggested "Major" because that was my dad's rank in the army, but . . . I guess we'll see Friday night when we land in Ohio.
What does your SO call your parents? First names? Mr. Lastname? "Hey, you"?
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Comments (92)
Whatever you do, DO NOT let him call your dad "old man".
I think when it comes to respect, the SO should call Mr. or Mrs. last name. You can always ask your parents on what your SO should call them.
he calls my parents by "mr. and mrs. so-and-so."
i think it would be weird otherwise, actually.
I don't think there's anything wrong with Mr. Lastname, even if your boyfriend is 24. It's just a sign of respect and your dad will recognize it as such.
Maybe to start Mr. <lastname> would be best... then your dad can just say "Call me whateveryourdadlikestobecalled".
My SO doesn't actually call my parents anything, really... I call his parents and grandma by their first names.
Well, I worked with my bf's dad, so I call him by his first name. But thats another thing, people tend to call a person by the name they are introduced... so if you say this is my dad and your dad doesnt say anything, more or likely he will become Mr."__", but if you say this is my dad, and you dad says his name "doe", "Major John doe" , normally that gives leaway to say whatever we were introduced to them as.
He calls my dad Sir or Mr _Last name_ and mrs. _last name_
Im greek so i have a long last name, they find it cute when he says it all :3.
My ex used to say sir and stuff, but after a while & since we dated for two years, they got comfortable & started to address them by their first names.
My bf doesn't really call my parents anything, he just says hello and talks to them.
I think it's fine if your bf asks your dad how he can address him. That's all. No big deal!
If your bf is super nervous, then you should tell your dad to introduce himself by name to help out.
I'd say it depends how formal your family are. If your family are very formal, BF should use Mr So-and-so & Sir until you father invites him to do otherwise. If your family tends to be casual, firstname should be fine.
My partner calls my parents by their first names, but what I find really weird is that her parents want me to call them Mum and Dad. That's so odd.
Auntie, Uncle & like wise :P
(Asians, dont ask :P)
my bf is 25 and we just visited my mom.. he basically avoided calling her by anything haha. i guess mrs surname would be okay. it's just weird though because we happen to have the same last name
My boyfriend's 24 and he calls my parents "Mr. and Mrs. Lastname". We're pretty traditional, so anything otherwise would pretty much be blasphemy. Until your parents tell him directly that he can call them otherwise, go with the conservative to avoid giving offense.
@kristentsuii@xanga - yep, same here. i'm not asian though.
I don't care what he calls my parents and I don't really think they care either.
He should call him Mr. Whateverlastnameis until your dad says directly to him "oh, it's ok, you can call me Bob" or whatever.
Good Impressions are lasting ones.Â
I'm at the point where I call my boyfriends father by his first name, but he welcomes that. There are some parents who prefer to be called by their Last names or by Mr. or Miss.
@black_lie@xanga - LOL nice.
Uncle + Aunty~ hehe, but its normal in asians~ I once asked my mom what she would like my friends to call her (one of my friends refers to all of our parents by their first names, which my mom found a bit rude..) She doesn't particularly like being called "Mrs. Lastname" because she thinks it makes her sound old~ hehe, Aunty is normal for us.. but good luck with the meeting! :]
I call them Uncle Tom and Aunty Helen
My ex used to call my mom Ms. P (first letter of last name) until she got remarried and her last name now stars with a K. We had broken up by this point, but occasionally we'll still run into him (I'm "friends" with him - we don't hate eachother or anything; and we go to the same university). He calls her Mrs. K or by her first name. He called(calls) my dad by his first name.
He started out calling my dad Mr. lastname though, but my dad told him "Nah, just call me firstname"
I often wonder this too but just to be safe, I'm sticking with "Mr" or "Mrs" until threatened otherwise.
He calls my dad "Mr. Lastname" and my mom "Mrs. Lastname" or by her first name. I call his parents by their first names, and his dad and I have nicknames for each other.
mr. / mrs. lastname
Okay, I don't really have a SO...but, I'd say Mr. Lastname. Then again, that's just the way things are around here...small town and all.