Monday, January 14, 2008

What's In a Name?

A few weeks ago, R re-nicknamed himself. We once called him a variation of his real name, followed by Guy. He decided he wanted to be known as "Tough Guy" instead. He even sometimes refers to himself in third person now, saying things like, "Did you see how high Tough Guy can jump?"

P, always much less demanding and generally OK with the status quo, seemed content to keep his primary nickname the same: Doodle.

The events of Saturday morning have us all rethinking that position.

We were at our local IHOP when on-call Daddy, who had managed to break away to join us for breakfast, was paged back to the hospital. As he got up to leave, P started wailing. "I'll miss my Daddy. I want him to STAAAY."

R remarked, "I don't cwy when my Daddy leaves 'cause I am a Tough Guy."

Before I had a chance to respond he continued, "I am a tough guy, but not P. He's just a doodle bug."

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. P is clearly the more sensitive of the two these days, but that is not necessarily a negative! When I retold the story to Daddy later we decided it is time for a stronger nickname for P. (Still working on what it will be.)

Meanwhile P, who has been calling my husband "Dr. Daddy" assigned a new name to me this morning, "Honey Mommy."

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

How sweet to be known as Honey Mommy!

I think my nickname after a chaotic morning of trying to get out the door is probably 'Mean ole Mommy' right now!

Anonymous said...

My 3 year old calls her big brother Bub.

Strong yet affectionate and not embarrassing in front of his 1st grade friends.

Love the Honey Mommy, too cute.

Shannon said...

Love the new pics of the kiddos. Your kids' humor is great. What a bunch of lovelies!
Shannon in Austin

Shannon said...

I just got a blogging account so I'm officially "de-lurking". I have been reading your blog for about a year and a half and love it. I found it on Eliot's site. Just wanted to let you know who I am. :) Shannon

Trudy said...

Love what they come up with. I feel P's pain, I would be sad too if my husband had to leave at a moment's notice. You are all strong. The bigger picture is he is going to help someone and that's above enjoying luxuries like eating pancakes together.

Love your new pictures in your header. They look like Angels.

Mary Lou said...

I love your site...the new pictures are absolutely beautiful. The Lord truly blessed you and thier personalities are delightful. You inspire me and i am a grandmother of eight, well four are newly acquired step grandchildren, but that make a total of eight and I love reading about your three and your insights....You are a very wise young woman. May God bless you and your family. You are doing a great job....

MaryBeth said...

I love their cute little nicknames, but mainly wanted to say I think the new photos in the header are beautiful!!

Anonymous said...

Adorable. We are going through the nickname stage as well. We are ONLY allowed to call my daughter "Sissy." :)

Tee said...

Oh Sweetie (AKA: Honey Mommy) nick names do stay with children. We went to church with a young man that had three older sisters and they called him "Bug". It was very difficult as an adult for him. I worked with a man that called his little girl "Kudzu" and to this day I cannot remember that child's real name. One of our best friends called her third son "Monkey" and to this day we all refer to him as that nickname and he's a senior in college. Nicknames can stay with children all their life. Your name is so sweet, Honey Mommy and I love Dr. Daddy. Love the new photos of the kiddos.