My Name is Daddy

Daddy – noun \ˈda-dē\ is a diminutive, familiar term for a father.

I'm Proud to be Called Daddy!I read someplace recently that the phenomenon that is the “mommy blog” has not taken off in the same way for “daddy bloggers” because men would not use such a demeaning way of labeling their work. Apparently there are those who believe that “mommy” and “daddy” are somehow inferior, less respectful, less respectable ways of being addressed.

As an American growing up in Europe I heard the more formal labels of “mother” and “father” being used by young children in some countries. It seemed quaint, formal and frankly just a bit cold and distant. Some might think that the term “father” commands more respect. I disagree. I don’t want to command respect with titles like “father” or “sir”, I want to earn it. If I had my way, my daughter would call me “daddy” her whole life. And do you know what, I’m damned proud to be her daddy!

So am I going to be changing the name of my blog to “A Father’s Blog”? Hell no. And neither should any woman who wishes to refer to her online body of work as a “mommy blog” ever feel the need to apologize for that. We all have different callings, and I know with complete and total certainty that my most important calling in this life is “daddy”.

What do you think? Is “mommy” or “daddy” an inferior, demeaning term… either when used in describing a blog or as a name for us used by our children?

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  1. Seen that mammy or daddy or usually one of the first words a child says and when they say it im sure it makes you so proud, so why would you ever want to dismiss one of thy most important titles you will ever get.

    1. I couldn’t agree more, Ann. I hope that when she’s older she’ll still want to call me “daddy”. I suppose in part it’s a sign that no matter how important or successful she becomes, she’ll always be daddy’s little girl.

  2. My oldest started calling my husband and I mother and father and it made me feel really old. I love the terms mommy and daddy from my kids and I’m not ashamed of them at all.

    1. Hello Jessica. I suppose calling you mother and father (and there is certainly nothing wrong with those terms) makes a child feel more grown-up? And while I’ll be encouraging her growth and necessary movement toward independence from us… I’d still love for my daughter to call me daddy.

  3. The best part of my day is when my ten month old says, “Ma ma ma maaaaa” and I know it’s me she wants. I AM a mother, but that’s not what I want to be called. Seems so cold and distant to me.

    1. That’s so sweet, Kristi. When our two year old first wakes up she says the same thing as yours, calling my wife “Ma ma ma maaaaa.” She probably says mama more than mommy, and while she sometimes says dada, it’s usually daddy, and that suits me just fine. 🙂

  4. Oh, I totally don’t agree that the term “mommy” or “daddy” is the least bit demeaning! Actually it is a quite sweet term of endearment! My own daughter, now 28 sometimes still calls me mommy and I get tickled when she does so.

    Being called to be a “daddy” (or “mommy) is certainly one of the most precious gifts that we are given in life. Great post my friend! ~Hugs…M&D

    1. *Hugs* back at you, Mitzi & D. I’m sure I’ll feel the same when my daughter is 28. As the definition says, daddy is a diminutive, familiar term for a father. I’d rather be familiar and informal any day. There’s nothing wrong with father or mother if that’s what your child chooses, but I’m very happy to be daddy.

  5. I think words only have as much power as you assign to them. If you act in a manner that “mommy” or “daddy” is somehow demeaning, or belittling than that’s the power it will have. But, imagine, if you act in a way that it is the Best.Thing.Ever! An honor, a privlege, a gift….or as you perfectly called it – a calling. I am a mommmy…..and it is also true that I am so much more than just a mom — but being called mommy, whether to my face, or as a blog title, shouldn’t threaten any other aspect of the total Me. Unless, my insecurity allows it. Excellent post!

    1. Oh, thank you so much. That means a lot. I just returned from your blog, which I was already following, and of course on Twitter. Hope you finally got your coffee fix this morning (yes I was reading your mind) and that your little girl has a wonderful birthday!

  6. Man, you are always on point with your topics and you always make great points. I love it when my kids call me Daddy as to Dad. Tracy and I get sad sometimes when we hear MOM or DAD instead of MOMMY and DADDY. Glad you and the wife (Cuddles) and the little one are good. And again, I love the blog layout

    1. Thanks, Scott. You’ve been such a great supporter and good friend to me while I’ve built my little home on the web here. Thank you, it means a lot. Hope that beach trip of yours goes great this summer. Our little one hasn’t seen the ocean yet, landlocked as we are in Dallas.

  7. Whew! So glad I don’t have to change the name of my blog.

    Oh, and by the way, I agree.

    1. Yes, it would not have the same ring if you had to change http://manyhatsmommy.com to http://manychapeausmother.com 😉

  8. I wish my son would call me mommy forever too. He is growing up entirely too fast and when he calls me mom it is like the baby stage is gone forever. I am so proud of him but to me it is a badge of honor. 🙂 Love your blog and one of your new followers. Have a great evening! 🙂

    1. Hello, Jen. I will of course love my sweet daughter no matter what she wants to call me (and I suspect during the teen years those things may not always be flattering), but I really hope she’ll get back to calling me daddy if she every stops for a while. 🙂

  9. I love it and I absolutely agree. Of all my names and nicknames Mama is my favorite, most important and most prestigious. It just doesn’t get any better! 🙂

    1. I think “mama” is probably my wife’s favorite thing to be called by my daughter. It’s the name she uses when she’s not quite fully awake or perhaps a little scared by something. She also calls her Mommy at other times. Well, and sometimes also calls me mommy-daddy as she catches and corrects herself.

  10. I don’t think there is a more important title than “mommy” or “daddy.” Of all the things we can accomplish in life, what parents should be most proud about is having the love of your child. No one should ever downlplay their role as a loving parent.

    And I agree, I hope my son calls me “mommy” forever!

    1. Of all the things we can accomplish in life, what parents should be most proud about is having the love of your child.

      Well, said. I do fear it’s probably more likely for a daughter to continue using the childhood names than it probably is for a boy? But I have a daughter, so I’m hoping to stay “daddy”. 🙂

  11. The term Mommy or Daddy is fine, I find no issue with it! My children called me Mommy until they got older and they thought that it was too “baby” to call me Mommy anymore (and I have to admit, if I was called Mommy by my 20 year old son it would seem weird… and I would wonder what he wanted).

    1. Yeah, I suppose it would be somewhat unusual for a boy to continue to use childhood names… at least more unusual than it would be for a girl to do so.

  12. Found your blog via Momalog (love her) and love your first post I just read. I am “Mumma” to my boys…sometimes Mummy but hopefully NEVER Mother. Yikes. I agree. Very cold. But when they start calling you by your first name…that’s when you need to lay down the law!

    1. Mumma or mummy sounds perfect, January. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with a child choosing to call a parent a more formal name, but speaking just for myself, I’d be proud to have my daughter call me “daddy” at her college graduation, wedding, etc.

  13. As a 25 year-old, married, home-owning adult and contributing member of society I STILL call my father Daddy or Poppa. No matter how old I get, he will ALWAYS be my Poppa Bear.

    1. No matter how old I get, he will ALWAYS be my Poppa Bear.

      Awww… I love that, Laura. 🙂

  14. Sup, Daddy Blog.
    I’ll take “daddy” any day. It’s cute, endearing, and I like it. I think it’ll morph into a more formal version as any child gets older. I don’t still call my mother “mommy”. Seems creepy. “Mom” or “Mother” work best these days.
    I know I prefer “daddy” to “hey you!”. It also creeps me out when my 5 year old ‘Lil Gal calls me by my first name. Just saying.

    Jason
    The Cheeky Daddy

    1. Hey, Jason. Yeah, no first names here. As you say, if my child was a boy I’d expect him to call me dad later, but as a girl for some reason (probably the desire to keep her my little girl forever) “daddy” seems fine at any age?

  15. My 6-year-old son calls me “Daddy,” but my 10-year-old son has started using, “Dad.” I’m fine with either, though when my youngest switches to using “Dad,” too, I might tear up a little.

    “Father”? I think I’d freak right out if either of them called me that. So cold, distant, and formal sounding. Doesn’t sound like someone a child would want to run up to and hug.

    1. I think you put your finger on it. The name sort of reflects the level of formality and physical affection one might expect. Dad or Daddy sounds more like someone a kid would run up and hug. If my daughter calls me father, I’ll know she’s either made at me… or teasing me. The latter is the more likely. 😉

  16. Our adult children for the most part call us mom & dad, unless they want something and then its “mommy” or “daddy”. That helps tip us off. Somethings never change. 🙂

    Coming by from Mom Loop Friday!

    1. Ah… interesting. So what the call you gives you clues of intent? I’ll file that away. At 32 mo’s of age, I’m always daddy or dada, right now. 🙂

  17. I described myself as the author of a daddy blog for the longest time on twitter. Changed it recently to dad blog. Can you tell the difference.

    Great post man.

    1. Thanks, James. I suppose if my daughter started calling me Dad instead of Daddy, then I might change what I call myself. It is after all… all about her. But I’d be quite happy if she was still calling me daddy when she’s 40.. especially because it’d mean I’d live that long. 😉

  18. I agree – saying ‘father and mother” does tend to sound a bit stuffy to the American ear!

    1. Thanks. I mean if that’s what she wanted to call me, okay, but I’m not going to suggest it. 🙂

  19. I would have written this word for word without changing a single thing, only mine would have been funnier.

    Seriously though…perfect! I’m a Daddy Blogger and DAMN PROUD!

    1. LOL! I’m sure it would have been, Josh. You crack me up! The few, the proud, the daddy blogger!

  20. I’m a daddy and I blog about my kid. So being called a “daddy blogger” is describing exactly what I do. No shame in that.

    I’m proud to be a dad, proud to be a stay at home dad and proud to tell the world about my son through the internet.

    1. I’m with you, Adam! I like the pride you show it it.

  21. I agree with you completely. I was shocked and a little hurt when my 5 year old started calling me “dad” instead of “daddy”. My wife felt that sting to going from mamma to mom… I tease her now and then, cause she’ll likely become “Ma” when I probably won’t get downgraded again…

    1. Hey, Matt. I know you. If you set up a gravatar on http://en.gravatar.com your avatar will follow you when you visit other site, btw. As for the name, my wife is mamma also. I hope she’ll keep calling my daddy, but I suppose that’s just me trying to keep her my little girl forever. Which she will be whether she likes it or not. 🙂

  22. My daughter has recently taken to calling my husband Ricky (his name is Eric). Her’s is Erin. She goes by Rin, though. She is 2 and a half. I think our society is way to taken up with any type of lable and what works for one person might not work for another. One name from your point of view might have certain stigmas attached to it, but not for another person.

    Why lable it at all? You are comfortable with your Daddy Blog, so be it. I did not want a Mommy Blog, only in the sense that I felt my blogspace needed to be a space that I kept for me, whereas every single other aspect has been taken over by the precious soul in our lives. Last night I watched her sleep for 20 minutes. When my husband came in, he asked me what I was doing. I said I am watching the most beautiful thing in the world, and trying to hold her hand. He looked at me and said, you’re not going to become one of those funny people, are you? No. No, I am one of those funny people, which is why I needed to keep just a little bit of myself somewhere, so that someday, I may remember who I am besides her mother.

    1. I felt my blogspace needed to be a space that I kept for me, whereas every single other aspect has been taken over by the precious soul in our lives

      I hope you share the second paragraph of your post above on your space on the web. It is positively lovely. Thank you so very much for sharing it with me and my readers, Nadya.

  23. In the Puerto Rican culture (and others as well) being called “mama” or “mami” is a term of endearment even if you aren’t someone’s mother. I always considered the highest compliment when my kids called me mommy for the first time and continue to do so. Not demeaning at all. And I can’t help but smile when I hear the kids say “Daddddddy!” when my husband comes home. Never gets old.

  1. […] perhaps, but I wonder if it’s a sign of changes to come. I wrote a post a while back titled “My Name is Daddy” in which I defended calling my blog “A Daddy Blog” and expressed comfort, even a […]

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