Stay at Home Moms

Those with Dr. Husbands...

MinipenguinMinipenguin member
edited August 2013 in Stay at Home Moms
To make it quick, our HOA has a pool. There are only 3 families in the neighborhood with kids, including our family. So we all try to get along because it's nice to get out of the house and have someone to vent to. We all call each other by our first names, kids included. DH's cousin brings her kids (W is 8 and K is 4) over to swim sometimes and they made friends with a neighbor's kids. Today, the kids who are friends with W and K were there and they were all hanging out. Their dad was apparently off work because he was there, too. W walked up the table where they had all their stuff and said, "Mr. Smith, can I have a juice box?" And he said something along the lines of, oh sure, here you go, but I'm Dr. Smith. W just said thanks and scuttled off to go play/drink.

So my question is, if your DH is a doctor, what do kids call him? Does he ever correct anyone outside of a professional setting? It seemed really weird and kind of... pompous. I only know 2 doctors (in a personal setting) and I call them by their first names because they're my friends and I'm not a child. Just wondering.

Re: Those with Dr. Husbands...

  • My H is not a doctor but any doctors we do know in our social circle are the exact opposite of that. They would insist that our kids just call them by the first names, or Mr. Smith or whatever. Geez, kind of pretentious I would say.
  • That's what I thought, too. If my friend ever said that to a kid I would give her relentless hell for being so pretentious. But then, I didn't go to medical school and if I did then I would probably be shouting it from the roof tops. So I wasn't sure if it was normal or not.
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  • Dh is a disertation away from his PhD......he has already stated that students in his classes and those associated with his work will be the only ones he will care how they address him. All others Mister is perfectly acceptable, assuming they are not on first name basis of course.

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  • My DH has his Ph.D and has for a while.  He joked that when he got his Ph.D he was going to have everyone call him doctor.  Even our kids.  "I didn't go through 10 years of higher education to be called dad.  That's Dr. Dad to you!"  ha ha ha.  Anyway, he has everyone call him by his first name.  

    You're right....that other guy seems kinda pompous.


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  • A friend's dad did that to me once in high school.  He was a dentist, and I called him Mr. X - he replied with "It's either Steve or Dr. X."  I told my parents when I got home and my dad (a doctor) was pretty annoyed with him over it.  

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  • LOL...I don't know why, but this makes me laugh. Most kids call my husband by his first name, actually (although we insist on Mr./Mrs. with our kids, we'd never correct our friends' kids in this respect.) Otherwise, they say "Mr." and he doesn't think twice about it. He doesn't correct adults, either, but he gets sort of embarrassed about people knowing what he does for a living sometimes. I don't know why. When people ask him what he does he's more likely to say "I'm in the healthcare industry" than "I'm a physician." I can say he would never in a gazillion years tell a child to address him as "Doctor."
  • I've never met an MD that insisted on being called Dr. in a social setting, though I have met a PhD that did. Sounds like he's a big douche.
  • A friend's dad did that to me once in high school.  He was a dentist, and I called him Mr. X - he replied with "It's either Steve or Dr. X."  I told my parents when I got home and my dad (a doctor) was pretty annoyed with him over it.  
    So funny you say this, but I just told my husband this and he replied "He's probably a dentist." LOL
  • Our governor had his name legally changed to Dr. Robert Bentley. Then he was elected and now I call him Dr. Governor or Governor Doctor. He's a douche.
  • My DH is a medical doctor. He has never been addresses as Dr. in a social setting, and if he was, he would ask the person to call him by his first name. It would make him really uncomfortable.
  • Mrs.Hizzo said:

    This also puts me in mind of something that happened to me once. After college, I was bar tending at this hot new restaurant downtown, and one afternoon I took a call from my old dermatologist requesting a reservation. I knew it was him right away even though I hadn't been to him since I was like 16, because he said "This is Dr. Thomas Smith calling for a reservation blah blah blah." I never liked him when I was a patient, I always thought he was self-absorbed and totally unperson-able.

    So anyway, I took his info. down and said "OK, I have a reservation for Smith, party of 2, this coming Saturday night." And he got all snotty and said "That's DOCTOR Smith." And I said "Yes sir, that's what I have. Smith. We'll look forward to seeing you then" and hung up the phone. And I made sure he got the absolute worst table in the place that night. He was an asshole, and guess what, guy? Treating people's acne and burning off warts does not put you on par with the President of the United States.

    "Pimple Popper, M. D.!"

    DH wouldn't correct anyone, kid or adult, for calling him mister. (But apparently my phone would...it autocorrected to muster, lol.)

    On a semi-related note, DH grew up in New Orleans and they always called friends' parents or parents' friends Mr. or Miss First Name. I don't think they usually called them Dr. First Name, though. Maybe sometimes. It made me slightly uncomfortable to use that naming scheme when I lived there. It made me feel like I was 4 and everyone was a preschool teacher.
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  • DH would never correct someone, especially a child. We all mostly go by our first names though, and I think he would feel kind of awkward if someone called him Dr. Most of the other MDs we know go by their first names too. I would presume anyone who would insist on being called "Dr." must be pretty full of him/herself. Also, if DH ever did correct someone, I would give him hell about being so pompous...so there's that.
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  • We use that naming scheme here in TX too and at first I found it really strange but now it has totally grown on me. Not something I was familiar with having grow up in the NE.
  • alli2672alli2672 member
    edited August 2013
    I have an MD.  I work PT, and I go by Dr. at work all of the time.  I only go by Dr. in a social setting if I know the other person from work, and the other person is uncomfortable addressing me by my first name or, more likely, cannot remember my first name. 

    most kids address me by my first name or Miss firstname. 

    I will admit though that it would be weird if someone called me Mrs. X.  I probably wouldn't correct them, but it would sound funny to me. 

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