Monday, May 17, 2010

Sister Me

I am old fashion, I think small kids in Primary should call me Sister Last Name. I think the only people who are exempt from sister or brother as adults in Primary are the YSA who grew up in the ward. My parents expected me to call my church leaders Sister whatever, even if Sister whatever wanted to be known by first name and told me sister whatever was her mother in law. It made it slightly confusing for me I will admit, for some leaders that were stanch only first namers I ended up calling them by their first name to their face and by Sister whatever to my dad. At the time I thought my dad was being a fuddy duddy, but now I completely agree I will expect the same for my children. Even outside of church, I like to be known as Mrs. to someone younger than me, or Ma'am. No ma'am does not make me feel old, it is a sign of respect, of distinction or title, I first started being called ma'am as a 17 year old as an orthodontic assistant, many times the patients calling me ma'am were less than 5 years younger than me. I don't think ma'am has to do with age, but respect. I allow the neighbor kids to call me my first name, but I don't really like ito. But they are little, my last name is long, so... but I would rather J's mmmy than Lesli. Once my kids have friends that aren't just my friends' children I think I will try to get Mrs. out of them. I think we need respect in our society, like I said I'm an old fashion.
But back to the point at hand, that was a long digression.
I'm Sister Last name in primary, I have taught my five year olds how to say my name, we practiced it for many months so they would know how to say it. We giggled about how hard it was, and how silly the z sounded, now the kids feel proud that is isn't hard for them to say. They brag about not being hard. Yesterday long story short, I wasn't in my class, I was helping the primary president instead, next week I'll be back with my kids. One little boy in my class, can be quite snooty, and lippy. He gives me hard time a lot and I often wonder is it because he likes me or because he doesn't. I hope for the first. On sunday, he was late to primary so he went straight to class, when he walked in for sharing time he saw me and yelled, Sister Huntz. He was so happy to see me. I was glad it proved the first, I was also glad he called me Sister. Although I tell me kids to call me sister, they do hear my first name from time to time from people who aren't as fuddy duddy as me. I was glad, he used it. It was a good moment on all accounts. But mostly because it was so sweet that he was happy to see me.

2 comments:

  1. I was raised the exact same way. It was actually really surprising for me when we moved here and all the girls called their YW leaders by their first names. I always called my leaders Sister whatever, and I even prefered it. I feel differently about myself, though. I do fit into your YSA clause, and I prefer the primary kids to call me Lauren. Even as a sub, I have a hard time getting used to Miss Hagee. I wish they would all call me Miss Lauren (a few do). I think it's still respectful and shows they understand I'm the authority, but it's not so formal. "Miss Hagee" makes me feel like the eldest single daughter of an English countryman circa 1850. I actually have a really hard time calling the teachers I work with by their first names. I guess I still feel like a student myself...

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  2. My children will use "ma'am" and "sir" even though we will be living in CA for the next who knows how long

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