In the world of modern coparenting, labels can mean different things to different people.

For one mother, though, hearing her daughter call her ex’s new girlfriend “mom” raised some major red flags.

But was she right to feel this way?

Read on to decide for yourself!

AITA for being mad that my 4 y old daughter calls her stepmom “mom” instead of her name

So my daughter’s dad, let’s call him Samuel (M35), has been with his girlfriend Monica (F40) for about 1.5 years now.

I (F31) have been with my boyfriend Michael (M34) for about a year.

She has her own way of navigating labels with daughter and her new boyfriend.

We have my daughter with us for a week, and then she’s at her dad’s place for a week.

My daughter, Stephanie (F4), has hinted that she wants to call Michael “dad,” but we’ve told her that he loves her a lot, yet he’s still just Michael — out of respect for her real dad, Samuel.

But then she noticed something unusual with the way her daughter interacted with her ex and his new girlfriend.

Last month, we had her two weeks straight because Samuel was sick.

Stephanie said she missed her dad, so I called him on video chat so she could talk to him.

She talked with him and suddenly said, “Where’s mom?”

I was right in front of her on the sofa, so I was confused.

Then Monica came on the screen and said, “Hey sweetie!”

I said, “Stephanie, she’s not mom, she’s Monica!”

Later, the issue came up again.

They didn’t say anything, and I forgot about it until we were invited to a birthday party where Samuel and Monica were also invited.

I wrote to them in a group chat we have between us “parents.”

They explain that their approach to labels was a little different.

Monica said that Stephanie has herself decided to call her “mom,” and she is not ashamed of it because Stephanie is a lovely kiddo and she feels she’s her own kid.

But this didn’t sit well with her at all.

I replied that it’s disrespectful to me to facilitate that, and Samuel told me to call a psychologist if I have some issues with it.

AITA?

What did Reddit have to say?

The reality of shared custody is that things just get complicated when it comes to labels.

This user thinks that at the end of the day, it’s a good thing her daughter feels kinship with all of her parental figures.

It’s important to note that the daughter doesn’t have any ill intent here and is probably too young to know what she’s doing.

Perhaps there’s a compromise to be had here.

It takes a village to raise a child, and each villager deserves to be recognized in their own way.

The parents are making this an issue, not the child.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.