Friends being called "Aunt/Uncle"

TMNTgirl

Just wondering if anybody else was going to have some friends (who aren't actually blood relatives) who your child will end up calling "Aunt/Uncle" or some other relative-type name.

My best friend is going to be "Auntie Mindy". She worked with DH and I when we all first met, was a BM in our wedding and right now she's going back to school after being in the military for 6 years so she's been renting out our extra bedroom from us for the past 18 months. We joke around and call ourselves "The Tricycle" since she's like our permanent third wheel that's always around. Both DH and I really consider her part of our little family. And even though I'm excited to get started working on the baby room soon, I'm a little bit sad she's moving out soon. (And her only sibling is gay and doesn't want kids at all, so she'll most likely never be a "real" aunt).

DH's best friend from childhood (and best man in our wedding) has a 7 year old daughter who is super excited that we are having a baby and told us that she's going to be our baby's cousin. I think it's so cute that she wants to be all involved and hey in like 5-6 years she'll probably be our go-to babysitter. Especially since we hang out with DH friend/wife all the time and often double date.

 I think it's great that our child already has so many people who care about him/her and are anxiously awaiting his/her arrival. This kid will never be lonely that for sure since so many of our friends will be around besides all the "real" family too!

Lexs4

Doubt it, our LO will have enough real aunts & uncles to begin with without adding one that isnt a relative.  I would consider it if our friends were mature enough to deal with the fact that we are going to be parents, but we are the 1st & also only ones to be married, so I don't know how many friends will stick around enough to be called that anyway. 

What really drives me nuts though is that one of DH's friends keeps calling himself uncle ____ & I'll be damned if he's actually going to be exposed to my child enough to be an uncle.  He has an almost 1 yr old nephew that he's never met & just got arrested for a DUI that he blames on his gf, and still drinks like a fish, so I will be limiting exposure until that straightens up. 

--halo--

I have been debating this myself... I always imagined that my best friend and her hubby would be Auntie and Uncle to our LO, but the more I think about it the more I am inclined not to use those titles for them. 

I have a brother and I feel like it would almost discredit his true Uncle status.  It sounds kind of ridiculous, but that's just how I feel.  So I'd like to use some other name for my bestie, but I haven't really thought about what we'd use!

lilmgirl

Yes we will.

bosha711

Yes, my two BFFs will be "aunties". When I announced our pregnancy to them, I said, "you're going to be an auntie!" I could only hope that our friendship continues as strong as it has over the last 10 yrs, so that our child can grow up having them in his/her life.

Also, this is very common in MH's family. He is Hispanic & has a long line of extended "family". Pretty much everyone that is close, blood related or not, is a Tio or Titi. 

heyitsme

My best friend and her husband are "Aunt" and "Uncle" to DD. It just seemed natural for us, as they absolutely love and adore DD. But that's the only exception... everyone else who is aunt or uncle is blood-related.

Sonadora

No. I think we'll go the same route my parents went with this, close family friends will be Mrs. First name, Mr. First name, Ms. Firstname, etc.

JulietL129

Yep, we will. Lo's godparents will be Uncle Dan and Aunt Annie (They are not blood relatives). Also, our business partner and his wife are good friends of ours- they will be Uncle Neil and Aunt Mei

lulu8109

Yes, I will.  I'm Filipino and grew up calling ALL of my parents' friends "Auntie" or "Uncle."  LO will do the same.

Moonbeam828

Sonadora:

No. I think we'll go the same route my parents went with this, close family friends will be Mrs. First name, Mr. First name, Ms. Firstname, etc.

That's my plan too.

dc120807

I think only our closest of friends will be called aunt/uncle....one of my closest friends has her son call me Mrs. XXXX, I dislike it very much, it's way to formal/stuffy for me.  If you don't call your friends aunt/uncle will you just use their first names or how would you have your LO address them?

TMNTgirl

bosha711:

Yes, my two BFFs will be "aunties". When I announced our pregnancy to them, I said, "you're going to be an auntie!" I could only hope that our friendship continues as strong as it has over the last 10 yrs, so that our child can grow up having them in his/her life.

This is what I'm hoping too. I've known my best friend for over 8 years. And DH has known his best friend for over 18 years, so hopefully they will all be in our life and our childs life for a very long time.

Plus, we see them more often then our own siblings who all live farther away from us. Luckily DH and I both get along great with our own siblings and love them to death. But in realilty our child probably will only see their real aunts/uncles on holidays where our friends will be around all the time.

CFH79

Probably one or two very close friends.  But in general, no it won't be happening.  DH does have several friends who are like family, so if they end up as aunts and uncles, I'm ok with that.

mommiro

I'm not sure...I am "aunt___" to kids and also some cousins (hehehe) who hear my nephews call me that and I'm totally fine with that. I have some friends that are in our very close circle that if THEY call themselves aunt or uncle I'll allow it and acknowledge them as such. However, jsut regular friends will be Ms. or Mr. first name. Hell I still call my ILs Mr. and Mrs. last name lol

GrayGhost13

KatieGator:

Sonadora:

No. I think we'll go the same route my parents went with this, close family friends will be Mrs. First name, Mr. First name, Ms. Firstname, etc.

That's my plan too.

I think this is what we will do for most friends.

I think the only exception might be if we use the unofficial aunt/uncle title for some folks who are blood relatives but not actually aunts and uncles like DH's cousins and his adult nephew. The whole second and third cousin thing gets really confusing, plus it might be good to differentiate between the little cousins he/she plays with and grown-up cousins he/she has to listen to.

plumerialost

Yes I will. We lived in Hawaii for a few years and it's normal in their culture for all adults to be Auntie or Uncle and I fell in love with that b/c my brother passed away in 1997, so I'll never really get to be an aunt.  I'll use it for good friends, everyone else is Ms/Mr first name.

DaisyCakes18

No. We'll stick to Ms./Mr. First Name. We have good relationships with all of our siblings and siblings-in-law so they get exclusive "Aunt/Uncle" titles!

cmeyer76

We'll probably go with Mr/Ms. First Name.  My sisters both had a baby just as my husband and I started dating, and he was quite adamant that he not be called uncle until we got married. So we taught the kids to call him by his name or my friend first name - cause the Mr. would have been too much.

As a kid, I called a couple of my parent's friends aunt and uncle, but stopped as I grew older. Now it's only my dad who refers to them as uncle nickname and  aunt first name - it's kinda funny because we all grew out of it years ago, but dad doesn't seem to notice

OregonMommy

I honestly never gave it much thought but my BFF and I already do this with our dogs. LOL! We lived together and would say things like "Look Jojo, Auntie is home!!" Now we're PG together (10wks apart) and I'm sure we will do the same with our LOs.

paigeapoe

Honestly yes... At first I was against it... but I live so far from my family and SO's family really doesn't do the family thing. We get together with friends for the holidays so Yes... most of our friends will be aunt/uncle just so that our LO feels that he/she will have people that they can trust and rely on, someone who is more than Mr. so and so. They will still know of their real aunts and uncles but I want them to be able to bond with people, have "cousins" and know what it feels like to have family. I grew up in a large family and I miss it, I wish my baby could have a large family too so we are building him/her one.

lulu3061

Yes we will.  We'll use "Aunt and Uncle" for our very close friends as relatives are "Aunties and Unkies" to the kids in our family.  

mel.lc

So interesting to read you all's thoughts on this one!!

I've opted for no... I think I have a few friends to whom the baby is likely to be closer than s/he will to my sister, who lives in Missouri, but ultimately, the friend of my parents' who always wanted me to call him "Uncle" kind of skeeved me out as a child.  Sort of put a damper on that one, LOL. 

curlydoglover

Yup - my 2 bridesmaids will both be aunties to our son.  Not that the kid will be lacking in biological aunts or uncles (12 of them), but they're my closest friends and will have an extra-special relationship with him.

ValVail67

Yup, we will. We always joke that DS has so many "aunts" and "uncles" that he probably doesn't know what to think, but we don't feel that's a problem. DH and I have a group of very close- knit friends that deserve to be called Aunties and Uncles, so that's what what they are called.

britne08

I know for sure SO's best friend will be Uncle ____, but other than than I have 4 siblings of my own and SO has 1 sister, so Gabrielle will not be short on aunts and uncles.

pitterpatter129

We'll probably just call our friends by their first names and if said friend wants to add "aunt or uncle" to their name, then they can go for it!  I don't think I'd start off introducing them to my child that way, but I could care less if they add it themselves.  Obviously, that means they really enjoy us and our family and plan on sticking around!

bubbles231211

I will be doing this for our closest friends.  I don't think this will be any issue if any friends part ways with us, bc I have legit uncles and aunts whom I never see either b/c they choose to not be around at family gatherings so it's kind of like the same thing.  And my god parents whom are my dad's best friend, I call them Aunt and Uncle and they have been around for over 30 years - probably close to 45-50 since he and my dad grew up together, which is what I hope for my friends with my LO.

 When I told my friends the news they all went "oooh i'm going to be an aunt/uncle".  I have 2 brothers so those are the real uncles but DH is an only child, and since we had our BFP I said to him "for you being an only child, this baby will have TONS of aunts and uncles"  

reddroses

I plan to reserve those titles for my brothers (and their wives if they ever get married). I've seen the results of giving family/friends titles that sometimes confuse children later on...but we"ll see what happens when the LO arrives. Those titles may come about to close friends organically...