I have earned the right to be called “Dad.” I’ve supported my wife through two pregnancies, dragged myself out of bed in the middle of the night for countless feedings/diaper changes, and sang along to more “Yo Gabba Gabba” songs than the Surgeon General would ever recommend. Yup, I’ve earned the right to be called “Dad” (or even “Dada”). Unfortunately, SOMEBODY around here doesn’t seem to understand that.
Last weekend I was working in our office when I suddenly heard a little voice call out, “Mike? Mike?”
I cocked my head, surprised. “Did I actually just hear that?” Annabel then shuffled into the room and up to my chair.
“Hi, Mike.”
I stared at Annie in shock a beat before I could spit out, “I’m not Mike. I’m Dada.”
“Mike?”
“Dada.”
“Mike?”
“DADA!”
“Mike?”
“HEATHER?!?!?!?”
Heather ran into the room, breathless.
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s calling me Mike!!!”
“Oh, I know,” Heather said, smiling. “She started calling you that this morning. Isn’t it cute?”
Cute? CUTE?!?! No, Heather. It is not cute. Annie is not even two years old. I want to be called “Dad,” “Dada,” or “Daddy.” That’s not too much to ask, is it? Especially when it won’t be long before she is calling me “Mike” in that snotty, ironic way that only a teenager can.
Heather was amused that I was so upset by this, and told me that Annie is just repeating what she has heard other people call me. She then promised me that it would soon stop, especially if we remind her that I am to be called “Dad” or “Dada.”
But then the next day I walked in on Heather pointing my photo out to Annie and saying, “Who’s that? Is it Mike? Is that Mike?”
“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, HEATHER?!”
“I’m sorry,” Heather chucked. “It’s just so cute to hear her call you Mike.”
Grrrr. You’re making me angry, Heather. And you won’t like me when I’m angry.
I decided later that I would turn the tables on Heather, so I showed Annie some photos of her mom and coached, “That’s Heather. Heath-her. Heather. Got it?” Of course Annie just looked at me and said, “Mama?”
I know I shouldn’t be so annoyed by Annie’s calling me “Mike,” especially since she has started to call me “Dada” again (maybe half the time), but there is something really weird/disconcerting about your one-year-old calling you by your first name.
I can promise Annabel this – if she doesn’t stop calling me “Mike” I will make her regret it when she’s a teenager by calling her “Pumpkin” or “Sweetums” whenever her friends are around. Totally by accident, of course.
{ 54 comments… read them below or add one }
You’re so funny!!
My son did the same thing with us and then he called my husband “snake monster” for months. It was crazy because he never forgot even when he would wake up in the middle of the night wanting his dad he would still scream ” SNAKE MONSTER”
Haha! I’d love to hear how that got started!
my nephew calls his mom “Babe” because that is what his daddy calls his mommy, he has been doing it for years and now at 4 years old he even calls his little sister Babe too!
My son called me babe for awhile too when he was about Annie’s age. We were in a store, I was off looking at something and he was with my husband and I hear a little voice coming toward me “Babe??” “Babe?” My husband thought it was the funniest thing ever.
Have no fear, you’ll be back to Dad or Dada in no time.
Kristin´s last [type] ..iPhone Photo Recap
I just spit my Diet Coke out onto my computer. That’s hilarious!
Rachel´s last [type] ..Prepartum Anxiety
My son calls me “Hon” and he still does it and he is six. I love it!
My son calls me babe-a-licious, thanks to daddy! LOL! We get funny looks in the grocery store!!
Mommy´s last [type] ..Adorable
I have a daycare kiddo, 16 months, who calls me mommy. Constantly. Even with correction.
It’s gotten to the point where I have to ask my 7 and 9 year old to call me Heather when he’s here so it will stop. I feel so guilty, his mom is a good friend of mine so we’re out a lot and I don’t want him to be yelling it at me when we are our and about.
Heather´s last [type] ..What to do next?
My daughter, Maya, went through a phase like that. For a couple of weeks she would only call my husband by his first name instead of dada. It annoyed him, but luckily, it only lasted a couple of weeks and then she was back to the more preferred “Dada”.
Now, she only busts out with his first name if he isn’t listening to her when she says “dada”
Lisa´s last [type] ..Trick or Treat!
We have a little boy, Waylon, who is about 20 months…right around Annie’s age, and he ONLY calls his dad Josh…sometimes its Joshy (Joshie?), but never dad or dada or daddy. I work with him, we look at pictures and I only call him Dad but to no end its Josh. “Wheres Josh?” “Josh home?” “Hi Joshy!” kind of drives us nuts. But when you ask where is your dad he points to Josh so at least he knows that Josh and dad are the same person. If you find a fix for this issue please post it! I told him i would give him a prize if he called his dad-dad…he looked at me with a empty stare, not sure he knows what a prize is…I bet had I said candy or cookie we might have been on to something!
Anyhow, good luck. We are right there with you!
Um. That is so ridiculously cute. Like completely and totally. I hope you guys got it on videotape, so when she’s saying it in that obnoxious teenager voice you can watch the sweet and adorable version. Lol. It’s also too cute how strongly you reacted to it.
My son did the same thing at that age. The funny thing was that I had a home daycare at the time and the other kids, they called my husband Daddy! He came home for lunch most days and the other 3 kids would yell “Daddy!”. Our son “Matt!” He out grew it. I was alway Mama.
Could be worse… My 2 yr old calls me by my first name. Except a toddler’s version of “Angel” sounds more like “Anal”. Nothing like hearing a toddler hollering “ANAL!!!” while in public.
PS – Love the Hulk reference.
My daughter tries to call my husband by his name. She’s 3 1/2 and it drives him crazy. I let her call me “Elizabeth” though, it doesn’t bother me.
Liz´s last [type] ..Halloween Time
My soon to be 3 year old calls me Jennifer, and he yells it in the store “Jennifer where are you?” “Jennifer wait for me, your son” AHHHH you gotta love the kidlets! The more you protest against her calling you by your first name, the more she’s going to do it, just pretend you like it, then she’ll decide to call you DADA again
I remember the first time my daughter called me “Nellie” instead of Mommy – I was in absolute SHOCK! I had to ask her again what she called me and sure enough, Nellie came out of her mouth along with a chuckle and snear! The little bugger loved calling me by my name just to taunt me! It still happens every now and then and only happened a select few times to my husband. I’m sure before I know it, I’ll hear “whoa, Nellllieee!” coming out of her mouth as she’s rolling on the living room floor with laughter.
Yeah, my husband feels your pain! He is “Michael”, or “Michael Daddy”. And he is NOT amused.
(I admit to getting a chuckle out of it! Don’t tell him.)
Hahahaha! Love the thumbs down photo. I agree!
This post reminded me of that girl Farrah from teen mom. She only calls her dad michael, never ever dad. It drives me nuts, so disrespectful! I’m sure Annie will forget about this mike thing soon.
In Farrah’s defense, she’s said before that her parents asked that she call him Michael, since her sister has a different father and they didn’t want her to feel left out/have hurt feelings that Farrah got to call someone “Dad”.
But the WAY she says it – gah!
I’m sure Annie will grow out of it soon. You may eventually even start to tune her out at some points. I know I’ve had to do the “Mom…Mom…Moooooom….SANDY!” thing before to get my mom’s attention!
Totally agree- she practically spits it- “Mich-AEL!!” ewwwww. Farrah is awful to both of her parents, and when her daughter grows up and sees that, she is going to think it is acceptable behavior, and Farrah will have no one to blame but herself.
In any event, when toddlers say our first names (or nicknames) it is pretty cute , but teenagers, not so much!!
However, I can see why you wouldn’t want to be called “Mike”. I am actually a little sad when my almost-three-year-old calls me “Mom” instead of “Mommy”. I still want to hold on to him being a baby I guess.
Don’t worry, Mike, Annie will start calling you Daddy again in no time. Maybe take her to the park and start talking to another little kid- she will get a little jealous and be sure to start declaring, “MY DADDY!!!”
Mommy´s last [type] ..Adorable
Wait ’till she starts cussing – which she will, even if it doesn’t come into the house.
Our cousin’s little girl was about 2 at the time and was into calling her daddy Jim instead of Daddy. One day she was jumping on the bed in their bedroom and he was standing there making sure she didn’t fall off. The following conversation took place between said 2 year old and Jim:
“Hey Jim! Come jump on the bed!”
“No, not right now baby girl. Daddy’s tired.”
“Jump on the bed Jim!”
“NO honey, not right now.”
“Jim! Come jump on the bed you son-of-a-bitch!”
**Insert grown man spitting a mouth full of beverage out all over the carpet and the mom rolling on the floor from laughter in the next room.**
You can’t make a big deal out of it, or it becomes a big deal. She’ll call you Dada soon enough. Calling you Mike probably won’t last for more than a week or so.
Too funny…
Broad´s last [type] ..Harlequin Romance, or Let me be Your Guinnea Pig
ROTFLMAO!!!
OMG! Hilarious!!!
Mommy´s last [type] ..Adorable
Ha! My husband’s name is also Mike and our daughter (who shares the same b-day with Annie) has recently started calling him Mike too. He haaaates it, and seems to think I’m responsible, because she picked it up from hearing me call him by his name. But what am I supposed to do? I guess I could use “babe” instead, but I will not be calling him “Dada”.
Oh yeah, and when he tried to teach her my name, she’d just point to herself and say “Heidi”, which is kinda funny since she looks almost exactly like me.
seriously funny stuff!
My son calls my husband “Babe” refuses to use daddy, dad, pops, whatever. When I was reading him a book the other night about baseball and we got to Babe Ruth he said ” see if they can call him Babe why can’t I say Babe, Babe is so much better” he said. He made his point. Lets see when he’s 12 and calling him Babe. BTW all his teachers call my husband Babe as well, LOL.
My daughter calls my husband “dada” even though we always refer to him as “poppa.” I think it’s because she hears everyone else refer to him as her daddy. Although I admit I’ll find it hilarious someday if she takes to calling him by his actual name. Time will tell.
Good luck getting Annie to consistently call you “dada.”
Pattie´s last [type] ..Halloween 2011: Behold Baby Gaga!
My 9-year-old son used to call me “Honey” when he was about 18 months to 2 years old. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. It was just mimicry since that’s what my husband calls me, obviously. But I remember clearly one time we were at the mall, and an older gentleman called out to his wife across the aisle, “Honey, look at this!” My son was positively perplexed when the man didn’t realize that “Honey” was standing right across the aisle from him.
She’ll get over it! It’s definitely a kid thing. And I remember our daughter doing the same to my husband for a couple of months until going back to daddy.
Jessalee´s last [type] ..It’s November! NABLOPOMO!
My 5 year old is doing that now occasionally with daddy. She thinks it’s a hoot. Me, not so much.
BTW, I don’t think you can call her pumpkin or sweetums when she is a teen, didn’t you sign a contract or something like that a while back where you agreed you wouldn’t embarrass her like that? Or is there a back out clause?
Just don’t answer her when she calls you that. She’ll learn pretty quick that calling you Dad will get you to answer while Mike does not. She’s pretty cute!
We have avoided this problem with our kids by primarily referring to each other as Mommy or Daddy in the kids’ presence. Of course, it feels a bit stupid to be at the dining room table and saying “Daddy, what do you want to drink with dinner?”
However, both of our kids have gone through a “first name” phase after being on a vacation with relatives. They heard the relatives call us by our first names for a week, so they felt it was OK for them to call us by our first names also. Not!
There is an advantage in kids learning parents’ first names – when they get lost from you in a store (it will happen at some point) and the manager says “what is your dad’s name?”, it is helpful if your child knows to say something other than “Daddy.”
I apparently called my dad by his first name for months, when I was about 3. He thought it was cute at first, but then he hated it. He would ask me to call him dad, and I would say “Okay, Bill.”
It lasted a while, but I grew out of it.
One of mine called her daddy “Bob” when she was Annie’s age. His name is Chris.
Ha ha ha! Love it!!!
Mommy´s last [type] ..Adorable
I thought it was cute when my 2yr old and 1 yr old (three weeks younger then Annie called their dad “Rob” “”Robby” and “Robert” Not cute when they started calling me “Ang” they just get ignored until they decide to call me mom. Especially this morning at 5Am when I woke up to a little voice saying “wake up Ang” and it was my lovely 2 yr old wanting cuddles.
a few years ago when my niece was a wobbly toddler and starting to develop more of her vocabulary wanted to make sure she knew her full name (in case she was ever lost, asked, etc.) and in order to grasp the concept each family member told her their full name. To this day she called her grandparents and mother their first&middle names when frustrated and full name when feeling silly.
My daughter who just turned 2 started calling my husband by his first name. I am with you on this one Mike, I don’t think it’s cute. I correct her when she does say that and it seems to have stopped. Hopefully Annie will stop too. Good luck!
My nephew called his dad “Bob” until he got to kindergarten. Cutest thing! That little voice calling “Bob, Bob, Bob” from the crib upstairs. He didn’t stop until his kindergarten friends wanted to know why his “real” dad didn’t come to school events, only the “Bob” dad.
Our daughter did this to us too. I’m sorry, but little voices calling you by your first name are super cute. We would just say ‘what is his other name?’ and she would reply “Daddy”. When she calls you Mike ask her what Mike’s other name is and see if she calls you Daddy.
Also, I’m pretty sure you signed some agreement thing that you would never call her embarrassing names when she is a teenager, no?
Yep. The other night my son was calling out, “Mommy!…Jay!” It was super cute (especially since he’d never called out ‘mommy’ before). My husband thinks our son thinks that ‘Jay’ means come here and ‘Jason’ means come here now! Lol…oops. Anyway, I’m trying to remember to say ‘daddy’ all the time now though.
Bria´s last [type] ..Happy Halloween
Annie looks just like the little girl from the movie monsters inc. So it is even more funny she calls you Mike!
Mike Wazowski! (Monsters Inc.)
My sister likes to lecture my dad – my mom jokes that she is the only person to actually call him by his full name (as part of her lectures.) My dad always says that everyone in the world can call him Jeff, but only two little girls get to call him Daddy. If by little, you mean ladies in their 30s.
Meg´s last [type] ..Halloweenie.
Um, I have to disagree with the other commenters who think she’ll outgrow this . . . it doesn’t always go away! My sons both call their dad “Irving” and have since they were very small. We’ve tried to get them to say “Papa”, but it never took. ONCE in a while they’ll use it, but hardly ever when he’s around and usually as in “My papa told me . . .” or something.
My advice, get Heather on the bandwagon! It’s cute, but not so much when they’re 5 and 4 and still doing it. I stopped them from calling me Genesis by pretending to burst into tears when my oldest called me that. He was horrified and went right back to Mama.
Expat Mom´s last [type] ..Gearing Up For All Saints Day
I have a little girl Josaphina a month younger than Annie, if it makes you feel better, she still hasn’t called me mommy, she calls me daddy and has for the past couple months, before that she wouldn’t call me anything, just ran to me if she wanted something. I know eventually she will say mama, but at this point calling me anything is good. The sad part is she learned the dogs name before she called daddy daddy
she is definitely stubborn, a little like Annie…
My 3 year old daughter will often call me “Auntie Nikki” since that is what she hears all her cousin’s call me…and she doesn’t believe that her Aunties are my sister’s only her “Aunties” Also my MIL will give her a hard time and tell her that her Daddy “Shawn” is her son…she chants back “no he’s my daddy!” But like someone posted above, just don’t respond when she calls you “Mike” it can be a good thing though that she know’s you by your given name!
My 4-year-old son was calling me by my first name for a while. Then he went to “Mom”, which still upset me a little because he sounded so grown up! Both my kids refuse to admit that my husband has any name other than Daddy though
I called my parents by their first names all through my childhood, until high school when I started calling them Mom and Dad. I dunno. I was weird.
Rachael´s last [type] ..Writer’s Workshop: I can’t understand the world
That is too funny! My daughter Autumn (she will be 2 on Saturday) does the very same thing. In my husband’s desire to get back at me (I call him Brad, he calls me Babe….go figure that she says both Brad and Babe…but not Stephanie haha) and those of us that laugh when she says it, he has now taught Autumn my name, my mom’s name and my dad’s name….I can’t get mad about it because it’s so cute and we get a lot of laughs out of it.
stephanie parnell´s last [type] ..Mountain Time!
My stepson’s grandmother is known as “Honey” and he’s over 20 years old!
Evangeline (my little girl) and Annie are days apart in age and…if it makes you feel better were going through the same thing here. She calls me Mommy and Jaime about 50/50….So it’s sweet but odd when she takes me by the hand and says “C’mon Jaime, Gaba, Gaba, Mommy…”
Too funny! My stepmother was “Cynthia” for a LONGGGGG time since my brother’s three older half-sisters (incl. me) called her that LOL – it started out as “Cyda” -> “Cynti” -> “Cythia” … you get the picture. I can’t remember how old he was before he got it all straight and managed to fix her as “Mom” in his mind
My husband when he was around age two, couldn’t really say “Grammy” or “Gramma”. Instead, it got shortened to Mammy. She’s now known as Mammy, and he just turned 26.
Currently pregnant with our first. I find myself wondering what she’ll call her grandparents.
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