When do I become "Dad?"

One of the strangest transitions for me as a new parent is figuring out when my name is going to change to 'Dad.' Whenever I say that name, I don't think of myself. I think of my father. I'm supposed to be calling him 'Papa' or something like that, but he's still 'Dad' when I don't catch myself. Shane's mainly babbling now, but I'm going to be 'Da' whether or not I'm ready for it once he really means what he says.

And for that matter, when is Carrie going to become 'Mom?' I've been trying to switch over to calling Mom 'Nana' and calling Carrie 'Mommy.' It still feels strange. There have been some odd conversations months back when I would say something about 'Mom' talking about Carrie and someone would think I was talking about my mother. Other times I said 'Mom' clearly meaning my mother and somehow it was interpreted as Carrie.  I can't think of any specific examples, but I do remember the awkwardness (and no, I did not say anything involving romance, but yes that could have made a jaw drop or a pair of eyes bug out).

So when do I feel like I'm 'Dad' and Carrie's 'Mom?'  I think this is going to be one of those things were you never know the moment when it happens, but you look back after you've been wearing the name for a while and  realize it started to fit.  Or maybe I'll always feel a little awkward with that title, but I doubt it. When I first started teaching, the kids called me 'Mr. Mike' or 'Mr. M' but I eventually got used to being called a 'Mr.'

On a different level of the family tree, I'm glad that my parents and Carrie's parents are NOT both being called Grandma and Grandpa. My mom wanted to be Nana and she nominated dad to be Papa. I know many families just throw a name on the end of Grandpa or Grandma, but I like having two distinct sets of names to avoid confusion. I had that growing up with Jama refusing to be called Grandma, because it made her sound old.

Time for Dad to go check on Shane.