I have a habit of referring to my children by nicknames. A lot of nicknames. I used over 50 nicknames for Hayden in his first year. When Hayden first started saying his name, he said it “Haydie.” He’s only recently begun calling himself “Hayden.”
(Break here: he has a friend named Sadie. They were playing last week. When Sadie left, Hayden looked around and asked “Werse (where’s) Sayden?” Nice analogous learning, boy!)
There’s one nickname for Rebecca that I feel a twinge of guilt for using: “pretty girl.” Aside from the fact that this sounds like a form of address for a pet, calling my daughter pretty girl incites all kinds of crazy fears in me.
What if she becomes stuck up or haughty about her appearance?
What if she has no self-esteem about her appearance?
What if she infers that she has nothing else to offer?
What if she never hears her mother call her pretty?
What if none of this really matters?
I’m probably reading too much into a nickname that comes pretty much naturally to me.
Do you have any nicknames that you keep calling your kids, but you don’t really want to?
