Of all the reasons I haven’t been blogging regularly over the past seven months, one stands out as the most ridiculous and easily correctable.
I hate blogging about the baby because I hate calling her “the baby.”
See? Ridiculous.
As an anonymous (loosely) blogger, I prefer to keep her real name out of my blog. Fine. It seems simple enough to just come up with a pseudonym for her, right? Or choose a nickname?
Well, this is where I get stuck. On something equally ridiculous.
I don’t want to fall in love with her blog name, and have it “off the list” for future potential children. (Which is even MORE ridiculous, because, at this time, we aren’t planning on additional kiddos. Which is a topic for another day. But – well, we didn’t plan on wanting ANY kiddos, and then we did. So I don’t want to name-block Future Me with a poorly-chosen blog name.)
Like Eloise or Gwendolyn – both names that I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Eloise was a top contender for this baby, but she just wasn’t (isn’t) an Eloise. But I certainly don’t want to lose it for future babies. And Gwendolyn was one my husband staunchly REFUSED to like… but I don’t want to use it up on the blog and then have him come around to it as the wonderful name it is and be unable to use it for a future child.
(Egads – we are NOT [planning on] HAVING A SECOND CHILD.)
There are a few names that have been Ruled Out as future options because they’ve been given to other babies we know. Abigail is one of those – and it’s a great name, one that was on the original list my husband and I made nearly a year ago. (I saved those lists somewhere, for future nostalgia.) But I’m sort of afraid that I will fall in love with the name and wish that it were my baby’s REAL name. I don’t think Seven-Months-In Baby Naming Regret is a good color on me.
My husband and I tried really hard to find a French name we both loved – our surname is French, as is his heritage (sort of) – but we couldn’t fully commit to one for this baby. So maybe a French name would work? Vivienne, Genevieve, Noemi… all so beautiful.
There are some names that I DON’T love, names the fit my loose criteria of “matching” her real-life name (classic/traditional, long, lots of potential nicknames, not shared by kids of or other bloggers I follow), but I feel ambivalent about those, too.
Like Frances. It’s a family name. It’s one that my husband and I briefly considered and then removed from our lists. I don’t think it would be a future potential name for any future potential babies. It has some good nickname options (Franny, Frankie, Fran, Sissy, Francie). But I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like I’d be writing about This Baby.
Maybe that’s part of the problem? That I think a pseudonym should fit her as well as her real name does? Gah. Talk about impossible expectations.
And then while I’m thinking about the baby’s blog name, I start wondering what my husband’s blog name should be. And then I think about how sick I am of typing in “Life of a Doctor’s Wife” as my name on other blogs, and how “Mrs. Doctor” is stupid, and…
I have more important equally ridiculous other things to worry about!
If only I had had the foresight to BEGIN the blog with a set of pseudonyms!
Can it even be done, switching blog names midstream? Like, could you just come back to this blog one day (in the distant future, based on my blogging frequency of late) and it could belong to the… La Fleur family?
Welcome to the bloggy home of Isobel and Jean-Phillipe La Fleur, and their petite bebe, Genevieve!
I could decorate my header with flowers and berets and baguettes, and sprinkle my posts with French terms.
BARF.
Wood board, Internet, the ridiculousness is off the charts with this one. I’m done.
How about Gigi?
You know, using a name on a blog doesn’t rule it out for future use at all. People might actually be less likely to think you were using it! The trick would be to keep it all straight. Nothing wrong with admitting the possibility of having more children some day, either :).
And yes, you can change blog names midstream; friends of mine have done it.
You could use her initials, refer to your husband as Dr. and change your blog name….All you have to do is remind your readers of the new name and it’s all good. Or what about “la petite”, I think it’s adorable.
You need Swistle’s help! Swistle, where are you? Also, I like what 67 and good says, use initials and Dr.
I like the initials idea… or maybe Mini “initial”. I totally understand in your thinking about using a regular name… one that you previously liked, or think you may end up liking (possibily even more than her real name)… I kind of think it needs to sound more nickname-y, like Gigi, as suggested above. That way it doesn’t sound like it could actually be your baby’s name, but it also isn’t ridiculous sounding. Good luck! You can always try it out and if you think it’s too absurd or just isn’t the right fit, explain to your readers the reason for changing it. No one will mind!
You are probably quite a different person than the one who started “Life of a Doctor’s Wife” blog, so why can’t you start fresh with a different blog name? Just please let your followers know! And can’t you refer to your baby with an adjective, in blogland? Something like Rosy, Sunny, or Blythe?
Faced with your dilemma, and if I didn’t want a new blog…I’d pick a favorite book or movie and use their names, for fun!
I recommend using middle names for everyone, unless the middle names happen to be super-distinctive.
If they ARE super-distinctive, I recommend using names you have had to absolutely rule out for one reason or another, such as rhyming with your surname, or already being used by other family members.
Or use initials until you’re done naming babies and can be sure you’re okay with choosing pseudonyms.
Or, since when I read blogs I can’t keep anyone straight if their names are M and S and J, use names you’d never ever use as given names, such as Poppy and Peanut or Saturn or Zeus. Or pick a theme, like Archie and Edith and Gloria.
Or use names that are too similar to the actual names to be candidates; for example, if you’d named your daughter Eliza, you’d never name a sister Elizabeth, so use Elizabeth as her pseudonym; or if her name were Eleanor, you’d never name a sister Elle, so use Elle.
Or use odd nickname-pseudonyms based on initials or fetus names or whatever, so that you’re calling the baby Sol and your husband Esl, or whatever.
What I primarily recommend is choosing something and then getting on with it, because it doesn’t much matter and yet could be endlessly dithered about while it completely prevents you from writing, just as if it DID matter.
Can anyone top Swistle when it comes to common sense about names?
I recommend not using a real name. My favorite baby pseudonym comes from someone keeping the sex secret; they call it Qwerty. Not for everyone, but it has a certain cuteness.
I am also quite fond of the name Penny, just because.
How about something that isn’t a real name like Poodle? Or Shnookams. Or Freckles. Better yet, Offspring.
I like Kat’s suggestion (an i think others have alluded) just a “nickname” my parents call me Binky – always have, no one knows why. Binky, sassy, cookie, muffin, cupcake …..
I was thinking more of a nickname “cutesy” thing, so you can avoid possibleonedayfuturebabynamedrama. Like “littles” “Baby (insert initial here)” “peanut” “Dr.Baby”, etc.
For baby keeping it simple seems easiest to me. Using Little Love: abbreviated LL or First Child: FC (leaving room for another easy addition should your family grow). Could even match baby’s real initials but give ‘fake name’ on blog.
There is the route of overused but cute baby nicknames like peanut, bun or baby.
I just think it would be hard to write aboyt my son using another ‘real’ name for any length of time.
Other blogger calls her kids T1 (That 1) & T2 came next. Something like that seems less confusing.
Listen to Swistle. I was actually going to suggest LE as the baby’s nickname. But Swistle has better ideas.
One point to consider if/when you change your commenting name- one of the reasons I got to know you in my comment section was because you had an easy to remember, distinctive name. When someone comments under the name “Mary” or say “Jen”, I have a much harder time remembering them between comments. When it is something memorable, I connect them to all the other comments they’ve left and I feel like I know them better.
Did you guys have a nickname for her before you knew if she was a boy or girl? Back when she was just a “thing”? If so, why not call her that? Yogi, Pennut, Hamish, all things I’ve heard other bloggers refer to their unborn as on their blog.