Don't Call Me That!

I cringed when I heard my name yesterday.


I like my name and am glad my parents gave it to me. And this wasn't a situation when my name was being used in vain. Nope, it was as simple as the 7-year-old boy across the street shouting, "Hey Michelle! Look at my new bike!"


"That is so cool!" I replied and admired him zipping around the cul-de-sac heading to our house to show my kids. "Very awesome, bud!"


What's in a Name?
When I was in my twenties and friends introduced me to kids as Ms. Byerly (when single) and then as Mrs. Lefebvre (after getting married), I would say, "That's okay. They can call me Michelle." If the parents felt like it was important for their children to address me formally, I supported that, but I was also okay with being called by my first name.


When I was teaching Sunday School or Vacation Bible School, the children would be more formal – it was appropriate for the setting. But in general, I was still more comfortable with kids calling me by my first name. Yet, now that I have children of my own, the casualness of first names feels a bit strange.


Different Generations, Different Styles
My husband was the youngest of parents who married late and had children when they were older. My mom married at 18 and I was born when she was 19. Because of that, my husband's father is in his mid-eighties (his mom passed away four years ago), while my parents are barely in their sixties.


That being said, my husband was always raised to call adults Mr. Smith, Mrs. Jones, etc., while my siblings and I addressed our parents' friends by their first names. With our children, we have always required them to address adults (even close friends and neighbors) as Mr. or Mrs. Usually it's Mrs. Jackson or Mr. Brown, but sometimes it's Mrs. Anna. The main thing is for our kids to show respect to adults.


Most of our friends do the same thing with their children, so I've grown accustomed to hearing Mrs. Lefebvre. Somewhere along the way, it's become such a normal thing that I now kinda cringe when I hear a 5-year-old boy say, "Michelle, Michelle. Can James come out and play?"


I'm not sure why. As my mother-in-law would have said, It just seems a bit "too familiar". Don't get me wrong – these little guys are good kids. They are polite, take their shoes off when they come into our house to play (we don't require it, but they do anyway), say "please" and "thank you", and are good playmates for my son. I've never mentioned it to them or their parents – it doesn't bother me THAT much. I'm just getting old, I guess!


So, what do people call you? And how do you feel about it?