DEAR ABBY: I started calling my in-laws "Mom" and "Dad." When my mother found out, she became very upset. She stated that it was an insult to her because "they were not the people who bore or raised me."
I did not mean to insult my mother. I just meant it as a term of endearment for my in-laws. I'm curious as to what other couples call their in-laws. Do they call them "Mom" and "Dad" or by their first names? I need to know the proper etiquette. -- TROUBLED IN CONNECTICUT
DEAR TROUBLED: It's sad that your mother is so insecure that your gesture of love and respect for your in-laws was perceived as threatening. Many people address their in-laws as "Mom" and "Dad." Others use their first names. Occasionally people invent pet names to call their in-laws. The most inventive I can recall was "MIL" and "FIL" -- for mother-in-law and father-in-law.