What do you call your In Laws?

[greg64]

I only spent a limited time with my FIL, who died in 2006. His wife, my wifes Mom, I spent tons of time with, daily visits for months at a time. Neither did I ever call by their first name, and strange as it sound, never called them by any name or nickname. With my MIL, that became challenging at times, but I was never comfortable to call them by their given name.

I thought I was the only one like this.

 

[Baby Yoda]

I was so uncomfortable calling her by her first name, I rarely called her anything when we were together.

Exactly the same with my ex MIL and then with my current hubby's mother, who passed away years ago. (Never met his dad).

 

[Leigh]

I texted my sister today to ask what her DIL calls her and she wrote back, "I don't really know!" So I called her and was telling her about this thread (& the grandparent name thread) and how it's interesting that so many of us feel so uncomfortable about what to call our in-laws that we don't call them anything at all.

It should be a simple thing to ask, "What would you like me to call you?" -- yet I never did that with my MIL, Sis said she never did with her in-laws, and I also remember my mother saying the same thing when I was a little girl.

Why is that such an awkward question??

 

[TimeWarpWife]

My FIL went home to be with the Lord back in 2015, but when he was here I either called him by his first name or Mr. B (first letter of our last name). I call my MIL by her first name. When dh and I were dating and first got married, I avoided calling them anything because it was, as others have said, weird. I thought about calling them mom and dad, but that just didn't feel right, so eventually I started calling them by their first names. My MIL flipped out when she heard her second oldest son referring to his FIL as "dad." She point blank told him that he had only one dad and it was not his FIL.