What should my son's girlfriend call me?

[deerislesmile]

I'm pretty far "North" (in Maine), and use and hear "ma'am" quite frequently, without any insult implied or taken. I generally use of to speak to strangers who appear to be adults, and specifically those that are married and/or have children, whereas for a younger woman, I would probably use "Miss" instead. I would also use "Sir" for an adult man, and "Young Man" for a teen or younger. All of these terms are usually used in conjunction with "Excuse me" and "Thank You." "Excuse me, Ma'am, but you just dropped this $5 bill."; "Thank you very much for holding the door for me, Sir. I appreciate it!".

But back to the OP's question- my son's girlfriend, at age 20-something, would be more than welcome to call me by my first name. I have no need to feel dominance over another adult simply because I am older than they are, and would consider them an equal in that capacity. If *they* wanted to call me Ms. Smile, that's all well and good, but I wouldn't expect or ask them to. And they would not call me Mom or Aunt because I am neither their mother or their aunt and I don't do honorific titles like that.

[RubyDee]

She should address you by your first name.

[jaminhealth]

I like being addressed by my name.

[BabyJuly]

My son's friends called me Ms. (my first name). They were too young to call me by just my name without an honorific. They were raised to call ladies Mam or Mrs/Ms. They would be uncomfortable referring to me on solely a first name basis. This seemed a good compromise.