Search Results for: blog parents kids and nicknames

Penny and Her Doll

What’s in a name? If you are my young daughter, not so much. In her world, playing the name game is a piece of cake because what you see is typically what you get. Case in point: Her stuffed dinosaur’s name is Dino; her fuzzy black lab = Blackie; her plastic fish-shaped bath toy, Fishy; and her life-sized plush monkey, you guessed it–Monks. Of course, not all kids are able to slap a moniker on a prized possession as quickly and easily as my kid does. In fact, for some children, the task of naming a beloved toy is serious … Continue reading →

More Bad News for Crazy Baby-Naming Parents

Remember the parents who named their children “Adolf Hitler” and “Aryan Nation”? Last year, the couple lost custody of their kids, and according to a new report, the children will likely remain separated from their parents for the foreseeable future. The kids’ dad, Heath Campbell, maintains that the reason the children were taken into the state’s custody is because a judge didn’t think they should remain with adults who would give them monikers with negative stereotypes. Meanwhile, court documents show that in 2010, officials found sufficient evidence of abuse or neglect existed because of domestic violence in the family’s New … Continue reading →

Playing the Grandparents Name Game

The Prince of Darkness is going to be a Pop-pop… or maybe a PeePaw or G-pa, or maybe just a good old fashion bat-biting Beebaw. Like it or not, Ozzy Osbourne is going to be a grandpa. The rocker’s 25-year-old son, Jack, just announced that his fiancee of two weeks, Lisa Stelly, is carrying Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne’s first grandchild. The cuss-happy clan is about to get a bit bigger, but not everyone in the former reality TV family is looking forward to Stelly’s April due date. Last week on her day gig as a panelist on “The Talk,” grandma-to-be … Continue reading →

Baby Names: Beyond Pink and Blue

When I was seven years old I swore that I would name my first daughter Sarah. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I would give birth to a boy named John and a girl named Sarah. Of course, my future husband would happily agree to the chosen names because, you know… he loved me… and who wouldn’t want a son named John and a daughter named Sarah? Oh, and the huz would commute daily to his job on Wall Street from our home in Greenwich, Connecticut, while John, Sarah and I baked cookies from scratch. Ah, sweet, innocent seven. … Continue reading →

What Do Your Kids Call Your Parents?

“GRANDPAWPAWpawpawpaw!” my daughter screamed into the phone. “GRAMPY! Where are you?” “GRANDPA! Pick up the phone!!” “Gramps, it’s your favorite granddaughter…” She’s also my parents’ only granddaughter, which is why we make a point to call them at least once a day. The aforementioned screaming is a taste of what my mom and dad hear on their answering machine when they (gasp!) miss my daughter’s daily call. As you can see, my creative first grader has a litany of nicknames for her beloved maternal grandparents… and she is certainly not shy about creating more on the fly and employing each … Continue reading →

Parents and Baby Names

Jeffrey Dahmer murdered, mutilated and cannibalized 17 young men and boys between 1978 and 1991, and somehow his parents were to blame. At least according to some psychologists, who claimed that Dahmer’s “disturbing behavior” was a result of a strained relationship with his parents. Frankly, I don’t buy into the whole blame-all-your-faults-on-your-parents philosophy, and I certainly don’t think Dahmer’s parents were to blame for their son’s psychotic behavior, but there is one fact of life that is the sole responsibility of mothers and fathers: baby names. When it comes to naming children, parents are the ultimate decision makers. While some … Continue reading →

Parents and Bizarre Baby Names

If you read my recent rant regarding celebrities and their bizarre baby naming rituals, then you might not be surprised to hear that the trend appears to be growing among common folk. Case in point: Some Swedish parents are currently fighting the government for the “privilege” of naming their child after the 17th letter of the alphabet. No kidding! The stalwart parents want Swedish officials to amend a law created in 1982, so that they can keep calling their kid “Q.” Apparently, the eclectic mom and dad have been calling their son Q since he was born. However, Swedish law … Continue reading →

Parents, Kids and Nicknames

If you ever want to see the face of horror try using your child’s family nickname in front of his or her classmates. Trust me; the mortified look your child will flash is one that will be seared in your memory forever. How do I know this, you might ask? I was witness to a similar scene last weekend and I still can’t stop thinking about it… and it didn’t even involve my child. Last Saturday I bumped into one of my former colleagues at Macy’s. I was exchanging a birthday gift and she was doing some back-to-school shopping with … Continue reading →

Who Are You Supposed to Be Today? Teenagers and Identity

Around the time my kids solidly entered the middle school years, I started finding snippets of paper all over my house with various signatures on them. My daughters would try out different ways of writing their names with different handwriting, nicknames, versions of their own names, etc. It hit me that we were really in the age of the teenage identity crisis and I wasn’t at all sure I was ready for it–like I could stop it if I tried! Over the years, I’ve witnessed various hair styles, handwriting, speech patterns (ugh!), styles of dressing, friends, activity choices and ideas … Continue reading →

Quick to Judge

I’ll admit it; if I see a toddler running around at the park wearing shorts and a t-shirt when it’s cloudy and 50 degrees out, I judge. Ditto when I spy a baby wearing nothing but green tinsel and a shamrock deely- bopper on Thanksgiving. Just call me Judgey Judgerton. They say parents are the worst offenders when it comes to judging their peers; however, I believe habitually jumping to conclusions about random people and situations is universal and not exclusive to those who procreate. Take for example the brouhaha surrounding actress Busy Philipps.  A few days ago, the TV … Continue reading →