Tuesday, February 9, 2010

When I become famous, please swallow this post

You've probably noticed that I don't include my children's real names on this blog. (Or perhaps you thought my kids just had really strange, unpronounceable names?) It's not that I don't trust you. It's those other Internet people I worry about.

You know. The ones who lurk around on obscure blogs seeking random children's first names so that they can ... OK, I don't know what they might do exactly (since they still wouldn't know our last names or where we live), but I'm sure it's awful and will end up on Dateline any day now. In the meantime, what kind of mother would I be if I didn't protect my precious babies from completely implausible cyber risks while turning a blind eye to the fact that they let the dog lick them on the mouth?

So. Just in case I become the next Heather Armstrong, I came up with using A___ and N___ (which may or may not represent my kids' first initials). Clever, right? Except it has been brought to my attention that this is not the most graceful solution. And in truth, I didn't expect to be writing about the kids quite as much as I have been. Typing all of those underscores does get tiresome.

Here's the thing. I suck at naming people. It was hard enough coming up with their real names. Two each! And I had help! Now I have to come up with a third, fake name? I'm sorry -- I'm exhausted.

I considered holding a "Name my children" contest. But I couldn't think of a decent prize, so then I'd have to hold a "Come up with a good prize for naming my children" contest. (You can see where this was headed.)

So, although I was hoping to buck the trend of giving blog-children cute nicknames, for now I am resorting to using the pet names that we gave the kids when they were in utero. My daughter will be "Sweetpea," and my son will be "Sprout."

Cute, right? And if the Internet doesn't like their new names, my husband can take half the blame. Now ... what to call him ...

4 comments:

  1. And now...you know why I refer to my children as The Girl and The Boy.

    also...the hubby is Beast. :)

    laugh with me, not at me. :)

    nice job. the names still suit them!

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  2. Sweetpea and Sprout are cute names. Are they reflective of their personalities?

    Karen and I call each other Spouse.

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  3. I thought A___ and N____, while not graceful, was cool. How 'bout using the blog software to make a reader poll, let us vote?

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  4. I say call your husband Vern. I like Vern. He really is kind of a Vern .... Homer might be better, but Vern will work. Yes, I like Vern. Not that Vern is my name. It isn't ... or maybe it is ... I dunno.

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