to Aunt or not to Aunt

When I was growing up, every woman friend of my parents was an "aunt" and every man friend was an "uncle". I was always taught that it is rude to call a grown-up by their first name and this idea is still engrained in my brain. If they're not an "aunt" or "uncle", they are definitely Mrs. or Mr. In Korean, there are actually words that specifically mean "lady/aunt" and "man/uncle" for these situations, so one never had to think about what to call them.

I know this idea may sound old fashioned, but I want Gemma to do the same as I did growing up. I want her to call friends of ours "aunts" and "uncles" and everyone else should be "Mr." or "Mrs."

But my problem is this: I know not everyone feels this way and some people aren't comfortable being called "auntie" or "uncle" by someone who is not actually their niece/nephew. And while this is what I want for Gemma, I don't expect my friends' children to call me "auntie" back... though if they did, I certainly wouldn't mind it.

so what do you do/will you do with your children? If you're a friend of mine who is reading this, is it okay that Gemma calls you "auntie *insert name here*"? Does this have to be discussed amongst the adults before the kids just start calling them "auntie" or "uncle"? How close do you have to be before the kids can call you "aunt" or "uncle"? ....What do people do?