Thursday, July 28, 2005

What's in a name?

My little sister called me last week to tell me that she had read my blog and that she was sorry but there was no way she was going to be able to call E Toofus because his name is Boo Boo Kitty.

My friend Sandie followed this theme a few days later when she suggested that if we had a girl the next time around, we could call her Hello Kitty.

Perhaps I should explain how this whole thing happened. I am the queen of the nickname. It's true. No one I know gets called by their parental-given name. And my nicknames seem to always stick. You guys didn't really think her mom named her Marel, did you? Then there is B. Of her 20 letter entire name, I managed to find one letter and call her that. For heaven's sake, my cousins ask how "B" is when they see me. At my wedding I was introducing her as "B" and she was following up with, "Actually my name is Jennifer." But back to the original story.

When we found out that we were pregnant (when we realized that the pink line on the second test means the same thing it meant on the first test if you morons had read the instructions--pregnant) , we paused the TIVO of Reagan's body lying in state in the Capitol and ran out to B&N to buy a baby book. Barely back in the parking lot, I suggested that we come up with a temporary name to call this sexless baby. I said that we should play a game of Baby Book Roulette. I flipped the pages and Derek slammed his finger down on the name Dunk. You read right. Dunk. Not Duncan but Dunk. We had apparently purchased the Urban Baby Name Book without knowing it. But Dunk it was. It wasn't like we could pick another name.

We called him Dunk until my mother had had enough. On Thanksgiving, he became Ethan.

But two weeks after he was born, he became Boo Boo Kitty. Boo being the origin of his nourishment and Kitty, well I don't know where the hell that came from. I HATE CATS WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING COULD I HAVE BEEN A LITTLE MORE CREATIVE?

So I have been getting a little worried that maybe Boo Boo Kitty might be sticking too much. I mentioned it to Derek and this is what happened...

D: Ethan?
E: (staring intently at his chew toy)
D: Ethan?
E: (wondering how far he can get the chew toy in his mouth without gagging)
D: Ethan?
E: (wondering if it would be more fun to throw the toy or to keep eating the toy)
D: Boo Boo Kitty?
E: (turning with a HUGE smile and a laugh to look at D)

Oops, I did it again....

12 comments:

Katya Coldheart said...

this will haunt him forever, wait till he's 40 and still being called Boo Boo Kitty...lol

:0)

eyes_only4him said...

you no whats funny...my little spawn who is Emma..has been called Boo her whole life...We call her it daily...when I would pick the middle spawn up from preschool..
I would have to say"get back here Boo"..becuase she would run in the halls...The parents thught her name was Boo..Until the last day of school..One of the parents asked me how you spell her name..I said EMMA...oh..I thought her name was BOO...I felt like a total boob..
give me a nickname please..please..what is marels name?..I feel cheated..lol..

Leesa said...

How funny. It drives my husband crazy that I name my cats one thing, but call them another!!

Humor Girl said...

lol..i'm the same way! Everyone i know has a nickname including x-boyfriends like M.

M went to Rico Swavay...

which went to Rick Swavey....

Which went to Rick...

Which now he is referred to as Richard. lol

We call him that all the time. :)

Anonymous said...

Actually, my mother didn't name me. So, there! hehe

Anonymous said...

Oh, I always love your nicknames. Major highways, stores, colleges, etc. And, B has always been so gracious about the name--she's so sweet. I didn't realize Boo Boo Kitty was not responding to Ethan. It's such a great name--I guess, better start calling him Ethan. [sigh] Oh, well. Talk to you later.

Chase Edwards Cooper said...

I wish that my parents had picked up the Urban Baby Name Book before I was born. I was always hoping for a name like Jameel or Kwaime, but it didn’t happen.

If Ethan ever gets a job where his name is put on a door or desk nameplate, it would be really cool to see it read “Boo Boo Kitty” instead of “Ethan.”

Also, it might be fun to have a telemarketer call his house and ask, “Mr. Boo Boo Kitty? I’m from Midlantic Home Improvement and I’d like to bother you during your dinner.”

Kristen said...

Blue--I can't wait to yell, "Way to go, BOO BOO KITTY" at his HS graduation. LOL

Amy--a best friend who calls you BBK would have to be slapped.

Katya--all kids have to end up in therapy over something the 'rents did, right?

Christina--I think your nickname would involve something Prince related :)

Leesa--I have a history of doing this to the dog. I now call him Buszha. Who knows? His name is Zinni, for heaven's sake!

HG--that's the best one I have heard yet

Marelle--in the immortal words of Duckie in Pretty in Pink, Touche.

Kazeem--good call on the nameplate on the door when he is a grownup. I'll be making one up now so he has it ready to take into work on his first day. LOL

Kristen said...

Buster Move? I gotta start reading Tara's blog

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

Urban for Boo Boo Kitty is BBK.....that's pretty cool, don't you think? :)

Jaime said...

Nickname queen?!? Excellent! I need a nickname for my not-yet-gender-determined baby. (It's a girl). I am not quite 16 weeks along. :)

Kristen said...

Stacy--D thought that BBK was too close to BTK.

Jaime--ask and ye shall receive...coming soon