[ocracoke]

I think I may have a complicated relationship with the word "mom." I called my birth mom "mom" for 5 years. Then I called 2 foster moms "mom" for another 1.5 years. When I was finally placed in my adoptive home at 7 years old my new parents told me I didn't have to call them mom and dad. So I didn't. I called them by their first names. I still call my dad by his first name and I use my mom's first name as much as "mama" for her (didn't start until I was about 25). I refer to my birth parents by either "My Mother" or "My Father" or by their first names. They are both dead so I just refer to them -- not talk to them. So when I became a mom it was strange to have the word "mommy" enter my life. I refer to my daughter's birth parents as "amaye and abaye" (mom and dad in her native language). She calls me mama or mommy. I was surprised when she recently called my "mom." I told her she wasn't old enough for that yet. And the other day when she couldn't get my attention she called out "Tamantha" and boy did that get my attention. They are all words that potentially carry really big meanings to people.

Samantha