Thursday, November 13, 2008

What's in a Name?

When I was growing up, my parents didn't call me "Renee". For a little while my dad referred to me as "Chaka" from Land of the Lost, but the whole time I was in grade school, everyone called me "Shelley". My parents came up with this variant when I was a baby and I had no idea my real name was "Renee" for years. It was very confusing, but it was even more irritating having to explain this over and over to new friends at school, because of course I was "Shelley" at church. Dumb, right?

dad, "Shelley, come here"
new friend, "Who's Shelley?"
me, "I am"
new friend, "What?"
me, "It's a nick name for Michelle, my middle name."
new friend, "That's weird"
me, "I know"
new friend, "You don't look like a Shelley"
me, "ok"
new friend, "Seriously, that's weird"
me, "Can we talk about something else?"

I'm only writing this because my blog is supposed to be a pseudo journal. I thought my kids would get a kick out of this, especially considering the ridiculous nick names I've given them, GG, Wencer, etc..

I'm just sayin'.

8 comments:

Jen said...

Sounds like my kids. If they don't know how to say a name of a friend they just ask if they can just call them something else. The weird thing is the other kids usually say its okay. My kids then forever call the friend by the new given name. So strange.

Mia said...

That is kind of strange/funny. My mom hated nick names but we all, ok everyone but me, had one anyway. I can see where introducing yourself as Renee then having your parents call you Shelly would be a wee bit confusing! But it does make for a good memory.

Devri said...

we live by nicknames

just saying....

Unknown said...

I love nicknames. Its fun when your friends pick up on them.

Family said...

I was Boom Boom for years. Ack!

Mindi said...

from now on i shall only refer to you as shelly. or the SHELL. or shellster.

i love it.

The Millers said...

Candy was a fun nickname to have until about high school. Then everyone just asked if I was a stripper. I think even mom did.

Julie said...

My nickname was the miserable mouth--sad huh? True, but sad.

WWMD

"My professional life has been centered on the home, the well being of the family and everything that these subjects encompass. When I began working in this area more than 25 years ago, the subject of homemaking as it relates to families was largely overlooked, though the interest was clearly broad and the desire for information strong. My colleagues and I soon discovered we were satisfying a deeply felt unmet need."

Martha Stewart, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, April 16, 2008