It can be horribly awkward to be called the wrong name … but the cringe factor skyrockets if someone thinks you’re a grandmother instead of a mother.
Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager tackled this topic on a segment of Hoda & Jenna’s social dilemmas on TODAY.
Hoda read this viewer question on air: “I’m an ‘older’ mom. When I meet someone I likely won’t see again and they call me grandma instead of mom, should I correct them? I’ve corrected people before, and they’ve often been embarrassed and apologetic. Should I continue?”
Hoda did not hesitate for a second in giving her opinion.
“Yes, you should. Yes, you should,” said the 60-year-old mom of two daughters: Haley, 7, and Hope, 5. “That’s happened to me before.”
“Somebody called you grandma?” Jenna asked incredulously.
“Yeah, someone said, ‘Oh, are you their grandma?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m their mom,'” Hoda recalled. She added, “But it’s not my ‘ouch.'”
However, Hoda said that if she were called grandma “nonstop all the time,” it would likely become “annoying.”
But there is another factor in this social dilemma: the kids.
“More than me, because I didn’t care, it’s what your kids see and think,” Hoda said. For “your kids’ sake,” you should correct the mistake. “But also don’t take offense. As I tell my kids, some moms are older, some moms are younger, some are taller, some are shorter.”
“Some moms are tired,” Jenna interjected. “Some moms are frazzled.”
“Some moms are exhausted,” Hoda said.
“Some moms want to crawl into the pantry and eat a string cheese,” Jenna said, adding, “Most moms love their kids.”
