How do I stop Grandma pressing my stepdaughter to call me Mum?
Family“Write ‘Mum’ at the top. She's your mum now too,” my husband's mother told his eleven-year-old daughter, sliding a birthday card across the table.
My stepdaughter had written my first name. She looked at me and said, “That's what I call you.” I said it was fine, but Grandma kept explaining that I buy her favourite cereal and take her to swimming. My husband was in the kitchen and missed the exchange. The card ended up unfinished.
She stays with us for part of each week. Her younger half-brothers call me Mum, and I can understand Grandma wanting her to feel equally included. I want that too. I also know she has a mother whom she loves, and she has never asked to use another name for me.
Later my husband said his mother was only being welcoming and I should not make a big thing of it. He does tell his daughter that my first name is fine, but he hasn't told Grandma to stop prompting her.
I don't need a particular word on the card. I would like her to be able to give it without explaining our whole family to the room.
What should I say if this happens again, and how can I ask my husband to help before his daughter is put on the spot?