"Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?"

"No, I am Daddy. Daddy. D-aa-dd-yy… DADDY!"

It's not a conversation I ever thought I would have with my son, but since Gabriel has begun calling everybody "mommy" of late, I have found myself repeating this particular one endlessly.

It shouldn't bother me as much as it does, but come on, there are no fathers out there who want to be called mommy, right?

Like Gabe's mispronunciation of "fox", "frog" and in the early days, "sit", his usage of the title "mommy" is more a misunderstanding than an actual belief that his strappingly macho father is in fact his mother, but it still gets to me… I can't help it. I want to be called "daddy".

How do I know it's a misunderstanding?

Well, when I arrive home I get greeted by screams of "daddy" (best welcome ever), but when the little man wants attention, his go-to word is "mommy".

So, for example, if we’re putting together a puzzle (at the moment a three-piece mind-bender), and my attention is drawn away for a second, Gabe hits me with a repeated "mommy", which escalates in degrees of anxiety the longer it takes to get me back in the game.

And it works, because not only is Gabe super-insistent, the more I respond, the more he uses it to grab my (and everybody else's) attention. So you can see my dilemma.

But is it really that big a deal?

When Gabe was dropping F-bombs while attempting to tell me he wanted to watch The Fox and the Hound for the umpteenth time, I laughed it off and kept on helping him get his head around that seemingly impossible "x"…

So why do I get so frustrated with the misappropriation of gender? Put it down to my fragile male ego. Then again, I should just be happy that I am popular enough with my son that he actually wants my attention!

So I guess for now, you can call me "Mommy".