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Mama

Discussion forum for parents in Australia

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Emmila

Mama

My mom (the grand mother) forces my daughter (the grand daughter) to call her MAMA and I absolutely don't like it. I am my daughters Mama and I should be called that. My daughter is 13 months.

My husband absolutely hates that she does that and it angers me too, but I don't want to hurt my mom by being rude or anything to her. I have told her that it will only confuse my daughter, but she insists saying that her other grandchild (my sisters son) calls her Mama and she should too. The worst part is she lives with us and cares for my daughter most of the day while I am at work, so she teaches her a lot of things that I have no control over. It just hurts me to come back and hear my daughter call her mama. What should I do?

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Bre-RO

Re: Mama

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Hi there @Emmila and thank you for sharing this with us. 

 

I can imagine that most parents would feel the same if they were in your position. I bet you spend the whole day missing your daughter, and to come home and hear her calling someone else mama would hurt. 

 

It's a tough position to be in, given you weren't heard when you tried to have a conversation about it. Family dynamics are so complex, especially when living under the same roof! Of course, you don't want to hurt your mum, which probably makes it nerve-wracking to bring up. 

 

It sounds like setting boundaries is important to you right now, and you have a right to express your concerns and wishes. How do you feel about bringing this up again with your mum? 

 

I thought I'd share some resources with you - Raising Childrens Network has tonnes of great articles on family dynamics, boundaries etc. They are split up to suit the age of your children as well, which I thought might be helpful as our forum supports parents of teenagers. 

 

In saying this, we're happy to listen and support you in any way we can.