She calls me “Mom”

Maybe it’s a New year’s resolution thing, maybe it’s just a phase, but Erica has started calling me “Mom”. I noticed that she had started calling me “Momma” before Christmas, but didn’t really think anything of it. Now, when I refer to myself as “Mommy” (like when I ask her “What can Mommy get for you this morning”), Erica retorts, “I’m too old for Mommy – you are now my Mom, not my Mommy”.

Huh?? What happened to my little girl who has ALWAYS called me “Mommy”? When did I become “Mom”? That’s not me – that’s my mother!

Now, I really feel like my mother, being addressed like this “Mom – have you signed my homework checklist”. “Mom – can you help me get the cat into her room”. “Mom – it’s time to go to school”. Yeah, and I feel old.

But when she is feeling sad, tired, or grumpy, Erica will let the “Mommy” slip. And I smile and realize that I will always be “Mommy” in some respect.

I just really dread the time when Brian will declare the same thing….