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What is the natural way of saying to your son in this situation,

Mom had just been home but the son didn't pay any attention to her or say "hello" to her, but just kept watching TV?

Is it natural to say this to your son "you should care about Mom by saying something to her when she's home, for example, 'how was your day?' or 'hello mom'"?

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    Mom has just come home. I think a parent might prompt the child "Here's Mom! What do you say to her?" Jul 18, 2020 at 15:18
  • @KateBunting, If This is the situation in Vietnam, people will say "you don't care about Mom at all" (literally translated from Vietnamese). Do we have a similar idiomatic expression in English?
    – Tom
    Jul 18, 2020 at 15:24
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    I can't think of one. Something like "Don't just ignore your mother when she comes home" might be appropriate, but there is no set expression. Jul 18, 2020 at 15:36

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In English, the word "mom" usually has a possessive pronoun before it.

you should greet your mom after she gets home from work.

So, you we usually write "my mom" or "her mom" or "your mom" instead of using the word "mom" in isolation.

In English, the word "get" sometimes means the same thing as "arrive". American-English speakers would use, "My mom had just gotten home"

Your original text said something like, "Mom had just been at home". That insinuates that the mother was at home in the past, but the mother is not at home anymore. The phrase "just been home" is not used to talk about people coming back home.

The child's mother had just gotten home, but her son didn't pay any attention to her. He just kept watching TV instead of saying, "Hello".

The proceeding block-quote is written in natural-sounding American English.

You asked whether or not it is it natural to say the following to your son,

You should care about Mom by saying something to her when she's home.

No, that is not natural-sounding English. The following is more natural-sounding:

“You should show that you care about your Mom by saying something to her when she gets home. For example, you could say ‘How was your day?’ or ‘Hello mom’”

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  • If we are members of the same family we never say my mom nor do we say our mom, we merely say Mom. Note the capital M. My mom is primarily used to differentiate from your mom. Our mom is used to differentiate between their mom. When we do not need to differentiate we drop the possessive.
    – EllieK
    Mar 28 at 14:50
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Not sure how helpful this answer will be to future visitor, the OP's question has been visited less than 40 times since 2020.

What would I tell a child who ignores their mother when she comes home from work?

The OP suggested (with minor corrections)

You should care about Mom by saying something to her when she's home, for example, 'How was your day?' or 'Hello mom'

That's fine, perhaps I would say “be more polite to your mom/Mom" but that's me and how I would phrase it. Saying "you should care (more) about someone” is perfectly acceptable and tells a child to be kinder and more considerate.

Here are a number of ways to respond to a child oblivious to the arrival of a parent:

  1. Hey! Don't ignore your father/mother or dad/mom/mum. It's rude.
  2. Aren't you going to say "Hello" to Mom? She's back home after a long day at work.
  3. Oi! Stop watching the telly and say “hello” to your mum/dad when she/he comes in. (BrEng)

If someone is coming home laden with shopping:

Get up and help Bob/Carol (or Dad/Mum) bring in the shopping.

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