Demon Baby has a name. A perfectly lovely little name that I was certain was his the moment he first kicked inside me. But he has decided he instead would like to be called Kirby.
We have asked him why.
"Because I am Kirby."
So last night at dinner with my parents (staying with us for a month), we all started addressing him as Kirby, and he beamed all through dinner and was absolutely lovely, other than melting his dessert (an ice pop) into a little dish so he could lick it up like Cosmo, his most beloved dog. So Kirby he is.
We had, in fact, adapted nicely to Kirby. And then he suddenly announced, "No! My name is Tun Link." Because I do have a number of friends from Laos and Hong Kong, he pronounced this with a faint Hong Kong accent. So perhaps this is his Hong Kong name.
Either way . . . Kirby and Tun Link are now the only way he answers.
If he's this eccentric at three, what do I have to look forward to?
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About Me
- Erica Orloff
- Novelist (Magickeepers series, Illuminated), Mom of Four, including a wild Pirate Boy, plate-spinner extraordinaire
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18 comments:
I have a friend who did this as a child. His mother kept calling his given name and telling him it was time for dinner. He never would respond. She finally went to the room he was in and called his name again and told him it was time for dinner. He said "That's not my name. My name is Jack". He's been Jack ever since!
Hi Conley:
LOL! Too funny. Guess it's not uncommon. Though . . . give Demon baby, he didn't pick such an ordinary name,
E
Kirby-Tun Link is quite a character. Thanks for the laugh!
Kirby sounds perfect. Not so sure anout Tun Link - a bit harsh on the tongue. Maybe he feels there are two separate parts to his personality and he requires two names.
When I was little, I read a story about a Native American in a tribe where, after surviving an intense coming-of-age ritual, the child got to pick his own name.
I've always loved that idea.
Anti-wife:
Kirby Tun-Link DOES provide us with HOURS of amusement.
E
Suzanne:
Don't scare me. ONE of him is enough. ;-)
E
Spy:
I woul love the naming ritual--minus the painful rite of passage! ;-)
E
Another confirmation of my belief in reincarnation!
By the way, could you call me Hemingway? Just for one day? And try not to say it out of the side of your mouth.
Jude:
Okay Ernest.
E
Our little one doesn't do that. But, she does have this thing that she is the only person in the world with her name. If she hears her name on the television, at a restaurant, or a store, she screams, "That's my name, she can't have my name!"
I have explained other girls can have that name--she's not buying it. I just hope there are no other little girls with her name when she starts school. If there are, we may have a problem.
Take care!
Muse:
That is SO funny. Demon Baby doesn't do that with his real name because one of my dearest friend's husband's has the same name. So he knows he has to share his real name. Though now that I think about it, maybe THAT'S why he wants to be Kirby Tun-Link, that way he is certainly unique.
E
(this is a side note, apropos of nothing on this blog, sorry)
Stopped by to say that I just read your "be a parent" comment at Ello's blog and agree wholeheartedly. Well said.
Hi pjd:
Thanks . . . I iwsh it were as totally simple as that. But I have learned one thing through raising four kids . . . Child #1 went through a period of time when she hated me. I was crushed. Now i know. It's okay for them to hate you. That's a teen's job. And it's your job to . . . be the parent. She's 18 and off to music school in the fall. And baby #4 is the Demon this blog is dedicated to. If I survive him . . . .
E
Congrats on the music school. One of the best parenting lessons I ever had was the simple phrase, "Someone has to be the grownup." I can't remember where I read it, but the context was whether parents should be strict or lenient ("well liked"). When you think how an adolescent or teen views the world, and their dearth of experience and wisdom, you realize that if someone has to be the grownup, it ain't gonna be them.
pjd:
It's still hard. I talk to my kids (incessantly, I am sure they will say). And I always thought (foolishly) that having an ongoing dialogue would mean that they wouldn't rebel. But adolscence means some pulling away. And after all that dialogue, being the object of hatred or anger was really difficult, especially, I suppose, since I don't like conflict and am pretty spiritual. But it was a learning process. With kids #2, 3, and 4, I am far less concerned with their anger. Someone has to be the parent. Or as one friend told me her sister-in-law used to say, "I don't negotiate with five-year-olds." Or, for that matter, fifteen-year-olds.
E
Perhaps I should have let my son pick his own name, because my family has never been satisfied with it. We're a bunch of Jews, and picked "Kevin" for my son's name.
When my father-in-law heard the name he put on a really bad Irish brogue and said, "Kevin! I'm father Kevin the Irish priest!", and cracked up.
My mother-in-law said, "Kevin Samuel? I love the name Samuel! Can I call him Sammy?"
Screw them all. I'm going with Demon Baby, and calling my next kid Kirby.
Robin:
Demon's father is Hispanic. The children have one of the most Hispanic surnames you can come by. We originally wanted to name Demon "Declan"--a nice Irish name. But there were howls of protest.
So now, guess what? They can all call him Kirby!
E
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