The comments, predictably, have many people asserting that if you let your kids call you by the first name that means that they don't really respect you, or that you're more interested in being the friend than the parent, and all sorts of similar bits of garbage.

There are plenty of kids who openly disrespect their parents while calling them "mom" and "dad." (watch any "troubled teen" daytime TV talk show - the parents are still "mom" and "dad," but the "troubled teen" kids were never taught how to be good humans, and thus...the parents don't get respect. What was likely hilarious as a toddler is suddenly infuriatingly disrespectful, if not outright violent, coming from a teenager).

Those two names are just made up of the earliest sound babies are able to make. The names "mom" and "dad" become special because of the bond behind the words. That bond would be just as special if the kids called their parents "Abe" and "Rose." The kids would be just as likely to respect our hypothetical Abe & Rose whether the kids called them by their given names or by "mom" and "dad." It really boils down to the parenting style and how well the parents are able to parent their individual child(ren).