I have been married for three years, and I still feel strange referring to myself as "Mrs. S." instead of my maiden last name! And since DD was born, it's becoming more common to refer to us as "The S Family." For whatever reason, that just still makes me feel like I'm referring to my ILs. LOL.
I think it's mainly because for the first two+ years we were married, I never changed my name on my work email, so all my co-workers and client contacts still called me my maiden name on a daily basis. So referring to myself as "Mrs. S." regularly is still relatively new (it's only been a year).
So, a quick poll:
How long have you been married?
If you are already accustomed to referring to yourself with your married name (instead of your maiden name), how long did that take?
Re: s/o referring to "the kids"
We've been married 4.5 years
In this province, a woman HAS to keep her maiden name, and that really annoys me. I mean, I understand it's much easier for everyone to keep track of you if you keep the same last name throughout your life, but I really wish I would actually be Madame Ha. I think that's also the reason why it still feels weird to refer to Monsieur Ha as my husband. We still refer to each other as boyfriend/girlfriend a lot.
Sorry, that didn't quite answer your question. I'm getting there.
It STILL makes me all giddy whenever someone calls me Madame Ha, because it just doesn't happen that often (see the whole maiden name thing above)
Olivia June BFP 12/26/10 EDD 09/01/11 Birthday 08/02/11
BFP 12/25/12 EDD 09/06/13 M/C, 01/02/13
BFP 01/28/13 EDD 10/08/13 STICK BABY!
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." Romans 12:12
Married for 5 years.
I took his name as soon as we got back from the honeymoon. Although, I didn't change my name in the professional arena for a little while. I worked in industry with my mother and she has a VERY good reputation. I didn't want to lose that association until I'd built mine up a little.
As far as the reference, I was called a derivative of my maiden name forever. Everyone I know from middle school through college called me Sharbie. So, I will never lose that association with my family. Actually, I still think of myself as part of my family by name, although I always write and use my married name. I'm just so much like my family it's impossible to identify with my ILs sometimes.
My maiden name dies with this generation. Jay has promised me that we can give any girls that we have my maiden name as a second MN. That way, the name lives on.
Funny thing is, my maiden name also starts with an S so every once in awhile if I am distracted or multitasking, I'll start to sign my maiden name.
I changed my name the day after we got married.
I still suck at writing my new last name in cursive. I never learned cursive in school.
Mama Ha, you taught me something new today! I had never heard that married women must keep their maiden name in certain provinces.
J&K, this very much sums up how I feel. While I kept my maiden name to use for professional purposes purely for convenience and reputation, outside of that, I still really identify with my family's name as as being one of them.
I think it will be easier to identify myself as "Mrs. S." as M gets older and I have more of an opportunity to refer to myself as my married last name (i.e. meeting teachers, parents of friends). Other than signing things, it just doesn't come up very often for me.