Well. Talk about a hiatus! If my maths didn't suck so completely, I would have calculated just how long I've been gone, but I would spare you that pain and myself that humiliation (not to mention menal fatigue that might lead to a revolt of the braincells) and just say "too long".
Things have been going really well for me, in case you were interested. For a while there, things got very, very hairy, but for now everything is good, so let's get straight to our feature for the day.
Since I am pregnant again, the great Naming Game has started up. Again. As if the first time wasn't bad enough, we then went ahead and actually used the only girl name we could agree on. Innocent, naïve fools that we were! Now we're stuck in the same place again, this time witout that one magical name we could both at least learn to tolerate.
This got me thinking all over again: what's in a name? Well, since I'm one of those people cursed priviledged enough to grow up with "unique" (read: you reek) name, I feel very strongly about the subject. Not that I was teased all that much about my name, come to think of it. In fact, to be totally honest, no one ever teased me about my name. This is despite the fact that I was named after a movie character (can you guess which one). I guess there were just so many other things to single out that my name seemed tame in comparison.
Fact remains, I feel very strongly about people trying to give their children beautiful and unique names and ending up with some or other monstrosity that no one in their right mind (read: not on acid) can even pronounce without the help of copious amounts of (at least) alcohol, never mind spell! I use to scorn such parents, deride them whenever I had the chance, and even wonder wether they feel such a strong drive to make their kids unique because they themselves were so singularly ununique. I have since found out that not only is that the absolute truth, but that I am one of them.
When we were looking for names for her, I realized that I, too, wanted something you-neek, a name that no one else in her class (preferably her town) has. Not that I gave my kid a bohemian, made up name. No, nothing like that. In the end, the name we gave her actually exists, it's a legitimate name, and I've actually grown quite fond of it as time passed. This is only because my husband put his foot down and refused to consider any made up names, for which I'm sure she will be eternally grateful to him as soon as she's old enough to realize that her name isn't actually "Baby". But even with that, it took all of our combined intellects and numerous close-call rumbles to actually get to this name, after almost seven months of debate and struggling.
Now I'm starting to wonder wether the entire concept of names could be overrated. I mean, wouldn't it be less confusing to just name all the kids the same? Imagine the conversational possibilities inherent in this. "Yes, and these are my two daughters, Janet, and my four sons Julian."
At least then Gwyneth Paltrow wouldn't have to try so hard, and neither would I!
Things have been going really well for me, in case you were interested. For a while there, things got very, very hairy, but for now everything is good, so let's get straight to our feature for the day.
Since I am pregnant again, the great Naming Game has started up. Again. As if the first time wasn't bad enough, we then went ahead and actually used the only girl name we could agree on. Innocent, naïve fools that we were! Now we're stuck in the same place again, this time witout that one magical name we could both at least learn to tolerate.
This got me thinking all over again: what's in a name? Well, since I'm one of those people cursed priviledged enough to grow up with "unique" (read: you reek) name, I feel very strongly about the subject. Not that I was teased all that much about my name, come to think of it. In fact, to be totally honest, no one ever teased me about my name. This is despite the fact that I was named after a movie character (can you guess which one). I guess there were just so many other things to single out that my name seemed tame in comparison.
Fact remains, I feel very strongly about people trying to give their children beautiful and unique names and ending up with some or other monstrosity that no one in their right mind (read: not on acid) can even pronounce without the help of copious amounts of (at least) alcohol, never mind spell! I use to scorn such parents, deride them whenever I had the chance, and even wonder wether they feel such a strong drive to make their kids unique because they themselves were so singularly ununique. I have since found out that not only is that the absolute truth, but that I am one of them.
When we were looking for names for her, I realized that I, too, wanted something you-neek, a name that no one else in her class (preferably her town) has. Not that I gave my kid a bohemian, made up name. No, nothing like that. In the end, the name we gave her actually exists, it's a legitimate name, and I've actually grown quite fond of it as time passed. This is only because my husband put his foot down and refused to consider any made up names, for which I'm sure she will be eternally grateful to him as soon as she's old enough to realize that her name isn't actually "Baby". But even with that, it took all of our combined intellects and numerous close-call rumbles to actually get to this name, after almost seven months of debate and struggling.
Now I'm starting to wonder wether the entire concept of names could be overrated. I mean, wouldn't it be less confusing to just name all the kids the same? Imagine the conversational possibilities inherent in this. "Yes, and these are my two daughters, Janet, and my four sons Julian."
At least then Gwyneth Paltrow wouldn't have to try so hard, and neither would I!
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