The pressure of a name!

Choosing baby names.

Choosing a name for your baby is a huge responsibility. Ginormous in fact. This is the name that your future child will have For. The. Rest. Of. Their. Lives. Yeah, no pressure at all!

When Hubby and I were on our way to pick up our new puppy from the RSPCA, we literally decided in about 2 minutes that he was going to be called Jack. That was seriously the quickest thing we’ve ever agreed on. That, and I’m the best wife in the world. No arguments there. Smart boy. Anyway, sorry, I digress.

So Jack was Jack in a heartbeat, but when it comes to naming an actual human being it’s quite a different story. Like most girls I picked future baby names out long ago, just like we start planning our weddings when we’re about 10 years old.

In the first few weeks of being pregnant I of course instantly started running some of my baby names past Hubby to guage how many of my negotiating skills I was going to have to call on to get my own way. Let’s just say I thought I was going to have to pull out everything I’ve got, as in a heartbeat most of my girl faves were met with the reply, NO, and I don’t think so. It goes something like this:

Me: What about Audrey*?
Hubby: No.
Me: But….
Hubby: (Butting in), I said no.
Me: Well what about Ingrid*?
Hubby: Definitely No. And then some explicitives about bad that name is, and how our child will be teased in the playground.

See what I’m up against! The other problem I’m having, as if a disagreeing Husband wasn’t enough, is that I’m really really crap at making decisions. That’s right, I’m a Libra! I can’t decide what to have for breakfast on the best of days let alone name another human being! If I had to name a baby 10 years ago it would have been Lili or Olivia for a girl and probably Brandon for a boy. I still love the girls names, but not really the boy’s name. So what happens in another 10 years time. Will I still like the names I gave my children? Oh, the drama of it.

Initially it seemed that boys were easier to name than girls. We, well I, had boy’s names coming out of my ears, and for the most part we tended to agree. But coming up with girls names? Well I’d rather try and cut my dogs toenails! Having said that we’ve now probably got 3 boys names and 2 girls names which is making choosing a girls name much easier! Oh how the tables have turned!

I’m thinking though that at 24 weeks Hubby’s just getting warmed up with his opinion! I’m sure he’s got a secret list stashed somewhere.

How did you choose your child/children’s names? Did you just know, or was it a hard decision?

*Not the real names. Names for demonstration purposes only.

Becoming a Mrs

As my impending nuptials continue to draw closer I thought I’d share with you an opinion on a question I have been asked, surprisingly quite a bit.

The question: Are you going to change your name when you get married? Short answer, Yes.

For nearly 26 years I have been Ami Holder. Call me old fashioned, but it had never crossed my mind not to change my name. When we start a family I don’t want to have a different name to my children and nor did I consider hyphenating it either. It’s actually a little hard to explain! I’m not a big hot shot career woman, nor am I a super famous celebrity!

So in about 86 days I will become Ami Streeter!

Unfortunately for my future husband, he won’t be getting someone that looks like this Mrs!

Did you change your name when you got married?Are you getting married and have decided not to? Why? Guys, would you be upset if your new wife didn’t take your name?
Would love to hear your opinions.

What’s in a name?

When naming your baby I’m sure it is different for everyone. Some people have a name or names chosen well in advance, others like to wait to see the baby before making a decision and others have nameless babies for days!

Like most girls I already have numerous names chosen for our future children, but being a Libran I’m not looking forward to having to choose just one!

So as we are all born helpless, our parents are given the privilege of choosing our names, whether we like it or not!

Don’t worry, I’m not about to go on a rant about hating my name, but rather have a little vent about spelling someone’s name. Your name is who you are and how people identify you, which I think is pretty important. So when someone can’t take the time to spell your name correctly frankly it annoys me a little.

Having a 3 letter name shouldn’t be that hard for people to spell, right? Wrong! I quite like the spelling of my name, Ami, but there are so many variations, Amy, Amie, Aimee, that sometimes people don’t take the time to look at how you spell your’s. It always amazes me that when replying to an email some people manage to spell my name wrong. It’s right there in front of them, they just haven’t taken the time to look properly.

So is it my parents fault for not choosing the most popular spelling of my name. In this case, of course not. Some other parents on the other hand should have a good hard look at themselves for the names they give their children.

So at the end of the day, is the end of the world? No. But I do think that I have a right to get annoyed with people who just don’t take the time to notice the little things.