3 Answers
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Now that my kids are in elementary school, all teachers are Mr., Mrs., or Miss LAST NAME.
When I speak to the teacher on the phone, she refers to herself by her FIRST and LAST name.
I actually feel funny calling her by her first name! If I speak to her at school or send a note in to school, I write Mrs____ . Anytime we speak about school at with the kids at home, we always refer to Mrs____.
In social situations, I am called Carolyn by my friends kids. One child preferred to call me Miss Carolyn and that is how her parents guided her, so that is who I am in their house!
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I call them as my son calls them when in the presence of the children, else just by their first name if 1:1. At my son's preschool the teachers go by Miss <FirstName>, so in your example Miss Sally.
Interesting how that seems to be the trend, i.e. using firstnames. My friends usually introduce me to their children as Miss Angie, Aunt Angie or just Angie. What happend to the days of Mrs. <lastname>? That's how I was raised to address any adult.
Actually not sure if I would prefer the old-fashioned way. In my mind, Mrs. Knitter is my mother-in-law, not me!
- aknitter, Jan 19, 2010
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Teachers around us seem to go by "Teacher <firstname>", so here it would be "Teacher Sally". I have no idea where that comes from, was "Teacher" always an honorific? I tend to do what aknitter does - "Teacher Sally" when talking to my son or with my son nearby, "Sally" when talking to Sally alone.
As to aknitter's point - I think lastnames have expired from society as a whole. As proof, I offer evidence A: strangers cold-calling me ask for "Andrea". Evidence B is that I don't think our generation feels grown-up enough or something to expect to be called by our last names - at least whenever I "slip up" and say Mr. / Ms. people tend to look at me oddly. (Then again, maybe I'm not doing it right! :)
All of my friends' kids call me by my first name and I think it would feel strange if they called me Mrs <last name>. I'd be looking for my mother-in-law! Have just recently started giving thought to what I want my son to call our friends. I still have friends of my parents that I refer to as Aunt and Uncle, even though there's no blood relationship. Mr/Mrs <last name> feels too formal. Ugh.
[As for teachers - I'll probably follow the example above of using what the kids are instructed to use when in the presence of the child and defer to what the teacher offers when not. If the teacher doesn't say that first name is okay, ask.]
- Alana, Jan 21, 2010
Would you prefer your friends' kids address you by Mrs / Ms Knitter? if so, would you feel comfortable telling them?
- andrea, Jan 19, 2010