As it turns out, no one else did. People - mostly members of MM's family - went on and on about how they didn't care for it and didn't think we should name our kid that. Then they went to the trouble of thinking up new names for us to name our child. Yes, our child. But apparently we shouldn't name it what we want....
At first I was kind of amused. I mean..the fact that people were so willing to tell us how wrong for us that name was. As time went on I became less amused. Weeks after our party I was still getting emails and phone calls about how the name we chose just wasn't right. Weeks. Don't these people have lives?
Shortly after our party, MM and I discussed it and decided to go with something else. Not because of what his family was saying, but just because we had another name we liked better. We're firmly settled on that now. When we told his family they expressed great relief, going on and on about how the original name just plain sucked.
Excuse me?
If I want to name my kid Peter Pan or Methuselah, that would be no one's business but mine and MM's. We're back to that whole "our child" thing. Ours. Not theirs. Not yours. Ours. Mine and his.
I'm not saying people can't offer an opinion. I don't mind if others disagree with me. When I named TG I heard a lot about how I shouldn't have named her what I did. This seems so much different to me, though. Is it because the name we chose is a family name for MM? Did they think they could be more vocal about it because of that? I don't know. All I know is if I hear one more word about how glad they are that I went with a different name, or how horrible the original name was, I'm going to scream.
What's in a name? Apparently a lot.
19 comments:
Ugh. People have opinions about EVERYTHING when you're pregnant. I'm tired of all of it.
There are still certain people with whom I won't even discuss my baby's name. I just don't want to hear anything they have to say about it.
Fortunately most people I've told really like the first name; however, I know there will be some backlash over the middle name, which I'm not sharing with my husband's family till the baby gets here.
But TOO FREAKING BAD.
Just brush 'em off. And of course continue to bitch about them in blog posts and emails. That's fun. :D
My next rant is going to be about those mothers who think I have to do everything the way they did. Just because some people think it's awesome to have an at-home birth in a pool of warm water doesn't mean *I* think it's awesome.
Now see, I would have been a smart-ass, told them they were right, the original name did suck, so you and MM decided to go with Dewdrop Rainbow Lollipop Gummi-Bear instead :)
Well, unless there are a bunch of burnt-out hippies in MM's family. Then maybe they'd like lil' Dewdrop.....
I finally got frustrated and told his mom "Well, I guess it's a good thing you don't get to decide". that shut her up for a minute.
MM's grandma kept going on and on about Jennifer. She loves Jennifer. I don't mind the name, but I know a LOT of Jennifers. There are 3 in MM's family alone. Why would I want my kid to have the same name as everyone else in the family?
So the last time she brought it up I said, "You know, that's the Rat Bastard's girlfriend's name." Funny, but she hasn't mentioned it since...
OMG JENNIFER? NO! NOOOOOOO!
Why would you want your kid to have the most popular name of the freaking EIGHTIES? Ew. I like my name just fine, but...baby Jennifer? In 2011??? No.
I'm also not discussing birth details with anyone after I made the mistake of telling my mom I didn't plan to take birthing classes. Yikes.
Why would you want your kid to have the most popular name of the freaking EIGHTIES?
Exactly! I want my kid's name to be unique. Maybe not Apple or Bear Blue unique, but not the same as everyone else, either.
A her name is Bowie ... like the knife! :)
Ha. That's what my next blog post is about. :)
LOL, now I'm really curious and wondering what was the name you and MM wanted.
It'd really be different if you asked their opinions and gave them the right to name your baby... but since you didn't. I don't know, don't they realize this is a happy occasion and why would they kind of ruin it for you?
You get one opportunity to name this child-YOUR child. Pick the name that is meaningful to both you and MM. You'll both be happy and the family will deal.
Ours did. :)
Word on unique names. There were three women named Lisa in my yoga class the other day. There were only seven of us in the class.
Jeez, what's wrong with people? If you wanted their opinions, you would have passed out a poll at the Sex Party. :D
Of course, if there is something freaky that you might have overlooked (initials that spell TOE, for example)...it doesn't hurt to mention. But to just not like and say so? Hmmph, keep it to yourself, person who named your twins Misty and Wendy (I know that lady, no lie!). Heh.
Now I really want to know what this terrible horrible choice was going to be.
As far as I'm concerned, people pretty much are required to nod and smile at crazy pregnant ladies. And seriously, if you don't like a name, that's fine. You do not need to express this to the people who have decided that this is THE BEST NAME for this child.
Ugh. There's nothing worse than people telling you what to do when you're pregnant. And giving advice about EVERYTHING.
We didn't tell anyone the names we had chosen until the kids were born. Saved us a ton of grief. I'm still heartbroken that I never had a girl, only because I loved the name we had picked out so much.
I say you name her Honeysuckle Hobag.
There were over FIFTY comments on an FB thread about how people didn't like the names M and I were thinking about for the baby.
And now, thanks to these AWESOME people who have convinced my husband that Claire is "a fat girl's name" (a la The Breakfast Club) and Molly is a dog's names, my two favorites are squashed.
BUT NOW....I have my sister rallying for Molly (FINALLY) because she watched the movie Uptown Girls. WTF?
But these people who are completely aghast at the thought of me naming my baby Molly, Maggie, Claire, Olivia or Paige actually suggested I name the baby JUNO or RAMONA.
W!
T!
F!
And now I don't want to name the baby Molly out of freakin' spite :)
(Not that we know what we're having yet or anything - it's just that I've had my boy name picked out for years....no one really likes that name either but I'm okay with that)
I was good natured about it all until my sister all of a sudden decided Molly was the perfect name. Then I got snotty. Also, she thinks the middle name should be Ray. Um.......
#ENDRANT
#SORRY
Oh - and yes, totally get the whole "unique but not freaky" thing.
I refuse to name my kid anything that will guarantee him or her to be "Bill H" "Tommy H" etc etc etc
I'm in shock that people, even family, would feel they could tell you what not to name your baby. Then to follow it up with emails and calls. Wow. I would be pissed too!
I would never tell someone I didn't like the name they picked, even if they asked me. I would say something like "If you like the name, that's all that matters" because really, that's all that does matters.
Makes me glad we never told anyone until after the births.
This is the exact reason we told NO ONE the names of our children until they were born. We decided and then kept those names locked up tighter than Fort Knox.
My mom (and she'll probably read this so I'll be nice lol) wanted me to go with family names. I did, for my second daughter's middle name but it wasn't one she chose. Not that I had anything against family names or the ones she was suggesting but we just didn't want them.
Always better to keep to yourself until the baby is here - they won't knock her name then. Well, they might but not to your face! lol
I remember when Tracy's kids were on the way and she and her hubby decided on names--which they refused to tell a single person!! As it turned out, they named their girls what they chose and that was it! And I absolutely agree: what we name our children is up to us and no one else. One of the names given another of my granddaughters is certainly not my favorite, but it's her name now and in the eternal scheme of things is just fine. So I appreciate your response to those who would be so presumptious to say a particular name "sucked." Opinions are OK but that kind of criticism just wouldn't set well with me at all. You are brave indeed.
I just read Tracy's comment -- she's right -- I like family names, but truth be told, I think the girls' names are just fine. And after all these years, they fit the girls just fine. So in the long haul, mom and dad have the last word, eh?
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