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 her 9-year-old daughter. Her daughter’s name is Felicia and she is a bit on the quiet side.
Long story short Felicia was trying on some jeans and her mom was standing just outside the dressing rooms chatting with me. Her mom, who is a complete extrovert, would occasionally call out Felicia’s name and ask how things were fitting. Not satisfied with her daughter’s response, my pal requested that Felicia come out of the dressing room and model the pair of jeans she wanted her mother to buy her.
Felicia slowly emerged from the fitting room and the pants looked great. So great in fact that her boisterous mom let out an enthusiastic, “Oh Fugs those look wonderful!”
At the exact moment my friend unleashed her joyous statement a group of about five girls turned the corner nearest to the dressing rooms. As it turned out the girls were part of the “popular” clique at Felicia’s school.
“Fugs?!” I heard one of them whisper.
A round of giggles followed before the girls strolled by. That left a completely humiliated Felicia dashing for the dressing room and me excusing myself so her mom could make amends. (I feel partly to blame for the situation because had I not been chatting with my friend she would have likely been in the dressing room with Felicia and the entire scene could have been avoided.)
I hope Felicia never reads this blog, because I have to admit I still chuckle to myself about how that whole scene went down.
For the record, “Fugs” is a nickname Felicia’s grandpa gave to her shortly after she was born. Her family calls her Fugs, but I now know that very few people in Felicia’s small social circle (and certainly not the girls we ran into or her other classmates) are privy to her nickname.
Which begs the question: Is it appropriate to use your child’s nickname in public settings?
And I’m not talking about shorten versions of one’s name such as Nick for Nicolas, Timmy for Timothy or Eddie for Edward. Nor am I referring to the cute little names we call our kids as infants and toddlers such as “Peanut,” “Boo-boo,” or “Buddy.” (I still call my 4-year-old “punks”—-short for punkin—-in public, but she’s too young to care.) I’m referring to nicknames that are derivatives of your given name.
For example, I was born Michele. But, within a week of my birth my dad nicknamed me Mimi. To this day I am Mimi to my close friends and all of my family members. In fact, there are some people who think my given name is Mimi… like my youngest brother.
When I was in the 5th grade a boy from school called my home to invite me to his birthday party. My youngest brother, who was about 5 or 6 at the time, happened to answer the phone the day my classmate called. The boy (named Ryan) asked to speak to Michele. To which my baby brother responded: “WHO? There’s no Michele here,” and promptly hung up the phone.
To this day my brothers struggle to refer to me as Michele. Seriously, I can’t remember the last time I heard the name Michele flow from their lips. I always have been and always will be Mimi to them. I just didn’t want to be from about 5th to 12th grade.
Do you have a nickname for your child? Does your child mind when you use it in public?
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