#writetip Should you capitalize parents? Proofreading is an endless task and here’s a mistake that’s easy to make.

Should you capitalize mom? (or dad, mother, father, aunt, uncle, you get the gist)

This short example shows you when you do and when you don’t.

“I don’t want to go, Mom. Really I don’t,” Ian said.

“You must,” Ian’s mom said.

Ian hesitated but obeyed his mom.

If you’re using mom as the name, then capitalize. If not, then don’t. Pretty easy, except when proofreading, one tiny letter is hard to see. I do a search for each mom, mother, dad, etc. and check to see if I’ve used them right.