Peter and I are going to my parent’s big 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration in a few weeks. I was telling him who was going to be there and started rattling off their friends names, Mr. and Mrs. Larson, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson… 

I realized, even though I am pushing forty, I still call my parent’s friends “Mr. and Mrs. So and So” whenever I see them. I have made attempts to address them by their first names, but have since reverted back. It was just plain wierd. I can’t do it. I know, I know, we’re all adults now. It’s perfectly acceptable to lose the formality. But there is something else about that golden generation; they are accustomed to being addressed in a respectful and formal manner.

Most of our close friends children call us Kay and Peter. I don’t find it disrespectful, just friendly and familiar. If they called us Mr. and Mrs. Krhin, that would seem wierd. Maybe it’s because the only people who do call us that are usually telemarketers. It may be a matter of context. When Ben starts having playdates, do we want his friends to call us Kay and Peter? I don’t think so.

The loss of titles and trend toward the informal seems to have become the norm in the last few decades. A recent article in the Washington Post addresses this issue and the cultural pendulum may be swinging back toward the use of formality.

So how do you address the issue of formal address with your kids?

This entry was posted on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 8:57 am and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.