I have to get my video camera fixed so I can record some of the funny mess that goes on in this house. My daughter and niece crack me up! When they see each other for the first time after being apart all day, they just look at one another and begin laughing hysterically. I’m talking serious giggle fits that go on, and on, and on…
So about the title of this post. You may be saying to yourself, “So what does she call you? Mommy? Mama? Ma?” Nope. She calls me Day-day. Yep! Day-day. At first I thought she was trying to say da-da. Then I thought no she’s not attempting the word daddy, because that word is practically non-existent around here. I refer to her father as baba, and that’s what my niece calls her daddy too. So I’m thinking, maybe its just a sound that all babies make — mama, dada, googoo, gaga. Nope. Day-day means something because it isn’t random. She most often looks straight at me when she says it. Then it hit me. She’s calling me by my name, Dara (pronounced day-ruh, i guess that would be the phonetic spelling). You see, my niece calls me Aunty Day-day, and she says it like a million times a day. So I guess Nia picked up on it. So now I’m day-day to her. Not ma-ma, she rarely uses the word. I’ve heard her say it a few times. Not a big problem. But I’m wondering if I should try to discourage her from calling me day-day. What do you think?
I personally do not want my children calling me by my first name because mommie, mama, mom, etc. is a more endearing term between mother and child (in my opinion).
The choice is certainly yours but when my children first began saying words they called us names that we didn’t recognize. We simply continued to reinforce mama and daddy by repeating it to them.
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yeah, i like mama too. i try to reinforce mama, but she keeps saying day-day. i think she will grow out of it, she’s just copying her big cousin.
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Awww that’s so cute, lol. She’ll get it right! My cousin’s call their father Baba too, they picked it up when living in Africa about 20 years ago.
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She’ll pick it up eventually. Both have gone through a phase of calling my husband by his first name (because I do) so now we refer to each other as Mommy and Daddy. Never would have believed I’d be someone to do that but it makes it a little easier. Cute picture I love her chunky legs (enjoy them because I’m sure she’ll run them all away quickly)
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i’m sure she’ll grow out of it and you’ll become mama. well, at least that’s what i hope!
i’ve been “mommy” “mama” “ma” and the other day my 2 and a half year old son told his father to take his “hand off my muva”!! i cracked up! like when did i become your “muva”? hahaha… but for the past couple months he’s been calling me and my husband by our first names. i think he does it mostly to irk us and he throws in a “mommy” and “daddy” when he really wants something. 
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