I would like to apologize for every time I’ve snickered, made a snide comment, blatantly made fun of or even thought of making a joke about some parent’s seemingly misguided baby-naming efforts. As I’ve learned over the past several weeks, it’s just plain gut wrenching trying to name another human being!!! I now understand that at some point you want to throw in the towel and just name the little darling whatever next enters your stream of consciousness. I’m thinking this may be how all of those months of the year names came to be (and don’t get me wrong, some of them are simply adorable).
Perhaps dear husband and I put too much pressure on ourselves when we decided (more than just a tad altruistically) that this baby’s name would have MEANING! We would not just thrust a darling name upon her, instead we would sift through long forgotten relatives, discuss favorite authors, consider strong women from mythology, and come to agreement on the most fitting and inspiring name possible! After several weeks of discussion, sometimes heated, and lots of time spent with books, baby naming websites, and more than a handful of Swedish baby name lists (who knew Ida was so popular in my homeland?) we’re no further along than when we started. And suddenly May and June sound quite appealing.
And what’s with everyone you’ve ever met thinking they should weigh in on your naming options? I’m considering adopting the approach of a good friend, who kept the name a secret until her little one’s birthday. Not a bad idea. After all, it’s easy to criticize a planned name like Trixie or Lolita, but if instead someone hands you a tiny newborn and you’ve fallen in love with her tiny little fingers and upturned nose just as the new parent announces that she would like to introduce you to little Lolita, suddenly the name doesn’t carry quite the same offense.
For now anyway, out little one remains nameless. Stay tuned.
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