Baldo by Hector D. Cantú and Carlos Castellanos for July 22, 2023

My mom called my grandpa “Daddy” till his dying day. Each of my kids has their own unique way of calling me Dad. One always greets me with, “Father mine,” and I respond with “Son of mine.” Another calls me “Pa.”

My dad wanted to be called paw paw when the grandkids came along, so he went from daddy to paw paw, and eventually shortened to paw. We all still call him paw. He’s 90

Papi sounds almost exactly like our Pabbi, for dad :) (and I still call my dad pabbi, he’s 86)

As an aside, I notice that southerners refer to their fathers as “my daddy” no matter what their age. Mothers are not “mommy” however. How come?

Bado is past the papi stage!

My daughters had “special powers” over me until sometime in their teen years. It was hard to say no to them much of the time.

A great point on Southern vernacular

Baldo you lost it at AGE 11 What did you do?

[singing] Toyland! Toyland! Little girl and boy land; While you dwell within it, you are ever happy then. Childhood’s joyland Mystic merry Toyland! Once you pass its borders, you can ne’er return again.

0 – 3: “WAAAAHH!” | “WAAAAHH!”

4 – 11: “Mommy” | “Daddy”

12 – 18: “Mama” | “Dad”

19 – up: “Mom” | “Pop”

Parents’ Funeral: “Mooommmeeeee!” | “Dadddeeeee!”