Re: Having a different last name than your kids

I partially blame my childhood friend's mothers who had different last names than my friends for my strange abhorrence of calling people by their names. As a little kid, I (along with all my peers) was taught that you called Mary Smith's mother "Mrs. Smith". You didn't ask, you just called her that. Invariably, instead of a gentle correction, I'd get some snotty reply about how she was Ms. Jones, thankyouverymuch. Being a shy child who only wanted to do the right thing, I was mortified.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't get offended if some kid fucks up your name, no matter what it is. Just tell them nicely to call you "Ms. Jones". That always bothered me. My name is impossible to pronounce and I have to take it with dignity, so why can't you?