I didn't as often when I was younger, especially when I was still with my own mom, and she made the rules for everyone in the household. Gradually I found myself referring and thinking of myself as "mom" more and more to the dogs, and Tasha and Tommy are my first pups that I adopted on my own as an adult, so the maternal feeling in a way is even stronger then.

I hadn't really thought a lot about it before, but it's interesting to think about and see how other people feel, so I'm glad you brought up the question!