In a blended family, how you say someone’s name at dinner can open a door or close one.

Names carry whole positions in a family. Saying one warmly, or flatly, or going around it with your mom or him, tells everybody at the table where you have placed that person. Nobody announces it and everybody hears it, which is why small choices there do more work than any conversation about feelings.

Listen to yourself this week for the names you go around rather than through. You do not owe anyone a title you do not feel, but using the name itself is a low-cost opening. If someone keeps avoiding yours, it may be awkwardness rather than dislike.