A mum has taken to Mumsnet to express her irritation over people calling her child nicknames.
She explained that her daughter is called Megan, and that she is also called Megan at home. She is very annoyed because people tend to call her daughter Meg, Meggy or Megs.
She wrote: ‘Her name is Megan and that is what we call her at home.
‘Aibu [am I being unreasonable] to think people should just call her by the name her parents use & not make names up?! It really bloody irritates me.’
Despite showing her annoyance, other mums told her that she was being a bit over dramatic, and that it shouldn’t bother her that people shorten her daughter’s name.
One person wrote: ‘Calling her by a clear diminutive of her actual name, eg Meg, is just people being friendly, and could be a term of endearment. So yes, chill for goodness sake.
‘Can remember the Hyacinth Bucket-like mother of a school friend who always made a point of referring to her daughter as ‘Elizabeth’ and pretended not to know who our mate Lizzie was! Uptight and ridiculous.’
Someone else told her to chill, while another added: ‘I’m a Megan. I get called all sorts depending on which social group I’m in. You don’t own your child’s name and she is her own person. It’s a good thing people shorten it as it means they have their own relationship with her outside of you.’
Someone else told her that she should ‘get over’ herself, writing: ‘Oh get over yourself. You don’t own your daughter,her name or other people’s free will, so you call her what you want at home, and others will call her what they want elsewhere and there’s f*** all you can about it.’
Of course, a mother is allowed to feel annoyed about people changing her daughter’s name, but it is very difficult to dictate what other people call her outside of her home – and if her daughter allows it, that’s all that should matter.
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