Name Calling

Names are funny.  They can say so much about a person.  Choosing names for our kids was a huge challenge.  I'm sure other families go through the same thing, but as two teachers, we tried to avoid using names of any students we had taught.  It ruled out a lot of names.  Then there was the rhyme game.  If you can make it rhyme with anatomy or body functions - it's out.  Next you have to look at initials.  I'm B.S., which I think is hilarious, but we didn't want our kids to have to worry about their initials spelling something or standing for something off colored.  Plus, we wanted something that "fit" with our family, whatever that means.  It was exhausting, but when we landed on the right name, we knew.      

About a year or so ago, Sawyer approached me out of the blue, "You can call me Beaver now."

"What?" I asked. 

"Beaver is my new name."

"Interesting.  Can I ask why?"

"Because Beavers are good at cutting trees down, and so am I."

"Gottcha."  At least it made sense now.  "But I like Sawyer.  I think I'll stick with that."  

Everyone else he met, was given the new name.  He was persistent, and the self-name change lasted longer than I had anticipated.  I was thankful when he finally let it go.  The irony is a sawyer, by definition, is one who saws.  So, I guess we did alright picking out his name after all.

He isn't the only one who has considered changing his name.  We have been reading a book by Judy Blume in which the character tries to change her name.  Contemplating this idea, Fischer told me he would like us to consider changing his name to "Mr. Great Fish" because he caught the biggest trout when he went fishing with his dad and brother. 

Mr. Great Fish, very descriptive.  I wonder if he'd consider letting us call him Fischer for short.    

Maybe it's a kid thing, or maybe it's genetics - when I was a kid, I really wanted a new name too.  I thought Samantha would be so much more fitting than my birthname.  I was kind of a tomboy, so I thought it would be great if people could just call me, "Sam."  Because, well, you know...Bobbi...

I guess my parents did alright too.