I remember a couple of rural families here in northwestern Indiana farm country who referred to each other as ‘mother’ and ‘father.’ Both couples had 4-6 children and it probably came from that being how they raised their children to address them. This was back in my childhood in the 1950s. And I recall a couple of great Aunts and Uncles in central Ohio who had large families and used the same forms of address.
Thus it is a family/cultural thing. And those attacking Mr. Pence for using it shows either ignorance and/or willful insulting of those who use it; especially toward a politician they don’t like.
Yeah, I agree with your take on it, and from growing up in
the Missouri countryside in the 1950s, I’m sure some of my
own thinking on it, is deep seated from back then.