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Lately I've been reading books set on the east coast with very wealthy families and the adult children address their parents as "Daddy" and "Mama" or even "Mommy" sometimes.
DH and I had affluent parents and agree we quit that baby talk as young children.
It was "Dad" and "Mom" from then on. No Sir or Ma'am either. He is from NYC suburb and I'm from So Cal.
What about you?
East coast, upper middle class. "Mom" and "Dad". Some of my siblings, in their 50s, will always call them "Mommy" and "Daddy".
It's a thing among some Not I.
People from the NE do not say "sir" or "ma'am".
As adults, we do not refer to our parents as "Mom" or Dad" - "Or "Mommy" and "Daddy" when speaking to people outside of the family.
I've heard this a lot in the south. An adult woman will say "Daddy and Mother are visiting this week".
Northeasterners, would say "my" first, weather using a diminutive, such as "Dad" or "Daddy", or the more formal "father".
"Daddy" is very common in the south. I still use it. I've never called him anything else.
I used "mama" for a while, then switched to "mom" sometime around preteen or teen years.
Same here. I was raised in the south, but currently live in the mid-atlantic. We certainly weren't wealthy by any means. My mother was "mama" when I was little, then "mom"or "ma" as I got older. I don't remember exactly when I made the switch, but I'm thinking around college. I called my father "daddy" until the day he died almost two years ago (he was 73, I was 42). I occasionally called him "pop," but more often than not it was "daddy." I sure do miss him. When referring to them when speaking to others, I typically use mother/father unless it's someone close to me.
Forgot to add, my siblings and I always use sir and ma'am when speaking to our parents, even as adults. My mom even called her mother "ma'am" until she died (my mom was 64, her mom was 86). We were raised to use ma'am/sir as a sign of respect to our elders.
Anyone raised in the south said Ma'am and Sir when answering someone the age of their parents, and certainly including their parents. If you didn't, you got told about it in no uncertain terms.
It always amuses me (in a good way) to get called Ma'am when I'm back down south for a visit.
When I was very little (like 4ish) we used to call my mom, "mommy". She didn't like the word "mommy" she told us to call her something else. When asked what else was alright, she said "Mom or mother". So "mother" stuck. When referring to her, I say "Mom". But when talking directly to her, or to ask a question, it's "Mother".
Lately I've been reading books set on the east coast with very wealthy families and the adult children address their parents as "Daddy" and "Mama" or even "Mommy" sometimes.
DH and I had affluent parents and agree we quit that baby talk as young children.
It was "Dad" and "Mom" from then on. No Sir or Ma'am either. He is from NYC suburb and I'm from So Cal.
What about you?
Well-to-do southerner here, we call our parents Mama and Daddy, even now that we siblings are in our 40s and 50s. It is not strange to hear a 55 year old CEO lean over his desk and say to his VP brother "You know Daddy said the LLC should be reinstated blah blah blah etc." It isn't considered baby talk. Many of our friends also come from large families and they do the same thing among their families, using either Mama and Papa or Mama and Daddy. We also continue calling aunts and uncles Aunt Maureen, Uncle Ted etc. throughout our lives, as well as older family friends who have earned the title. Our parents think "Mom" or "Dad" is somewhat disrespectful and we just never called them that. My own kids do call me Mom, however, so mine may be the last generation doing this.
I thought of this thread while watching TV over the weekend. I was bingeing "Private Practice" on Netflix, and noticed that Charlotte King refers to her father as "Big Daddy." Made me laugh thinking about how posters here would lose their minds. LOL
Lately I've been reading books set on the east coast with very wealthy families and the adult children address their parents as "Daddy" and "Mama" or even "Mommy" sometimes.
DH and I had affluent parents and agree we quit that baby talk as young children.
It was "Dad" and "Mom" from then on. No Sir or Ma'am either. He is from NYC suburb and I'm from So Cal.
What about you?
My parents are gone, but my adult sons call us mom and dad.
I always called my parents Mom and Dad while growing up, and continued to do so into adulthood. I don't recall ever using Mommy or Daddy, though maybe I did when I was very young.
My kids called me Daddy when they were younger. My 13-year-old son fairly recently switched over to Dad. My 11-year-old daughter still uses Daddy. I'm fine with either of them. They've both tried the first name thing a few times, but I refuse to answer to it.
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Not I. 
When referring to them when speaking to others, I typically use mother/father unless it's someone close to me.
