When I was growing up, I wouldn\u2019t have dreamed of calling any of the adults in my life by their first names.\u00a0 It don\u2019t even thing I knew that my best friend\u2019s mom was named Susan until I was in Jr High.<\/p>\n
In our new neighborhood, the children call all of the adults by their given names.\u00a0 Their parents introduce me to them by saying \u201cRebecca, this is our daughter (trendy name).\u00a0 (Trendy name) this is Rebecca.\u201d\u00a0 I cringe every time.\u00a0 Then I smile sweetly, extend my hand and say \u201cHi (trendy name), I\u2019m Mrs Frech.\u201d Conversation usually stops for a moment as everyone looks at me. <\/p>\n
In a society where parents are trying desperately to be friends with their own children and their children\u2019s friends, it has become \u201cnormal\u201d for children to think of and address adults as their peers.\u00a0 These children aren\u2019t my peers or my friends.\u00a0 They play at my house, eat the snacks I make, and tease and joke in my kitchen.\u00a0 I like these children, and love having them around, but they aren\u2019t my friends so I insist that they call me Mrs Frech.<\/p>\n
I think we lost something as a society when we began blurring the lines between childhood and adulthood.\u00a0 The children I see who first name grown ups seem to be confused about who is in charge.\u00a0 They are the children who argue, whine, wheedle and try to negotiate about everything that isn\u2019t exactly their own way.\u00a0 It\u2019s exhausting to be around them.\u00a0 There is a lack of authority from the grown-ups and respect from the kids.<\/p>\n
Respect, authority, esteem (other than self-), and honor seem to be dirty words these days.\u00a0 Children aren\u2019t taught to say \u201cYes Ma\u2019am\u201d or \u201cNo Ma\u2019am\u201d.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t taught how to speak to adults or that it should be different than the way they speak to their playmates.\u00a0 They grow up to be young adults who treat their college professors and bosses in the same manner they would their drinking buddies.\u00a0 When they reach adulthood and a little deference would help them, they find that it\u2019s not something they can do because they\u2019ve never learned how.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why I\u2019m no longer answering to \u2018Rebecca\u2019 for any of the neighborhood kids.\u00a0 You may call me old-fashioned or out of step, but I\u2019m the grown-up so you can also call me Mrs Frech.<\/p>\n
*****I recently learned that when my husband talks about my to people I haven\u2019t yet met, he refers to me in the honorific.\u00a0 \u201cLet me call Mrs Frech and see what she thinks about that.\u201d\u00a0 He insists that these strangers give me the esteem he feels I deserve.\u00a0 Why would I allow the neighbor\u2019s five year old to speak to me in any way that\u2019s below the respect afforded me by my husband?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was growing up, I wouldn\u2019t have dreamed of calling any of the adults in my life by their first names.\u00a0 It don\u2019t even thing I knew that my best friend\u2019s mom was named Susan until I was in Jr High. In our new neighborhood, the children call all of the adults by their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1979,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n