Friday, January 10, 2014

Why my child(ren)'s name(s) won't be appearing on the blog

If this little one cooperates, we should find out if he or she is a he or a she on January 13.  The appointment was for Wednesday, but the doctor's office called yesterday and needed to reschedule. I'm not so upset to cut a full two days off of our waiting. :)

I am beyond ready for that, especially now that Husband and I have settled on names. The boy's name was easily decided months ago, and it just feels right. The girl's name took quite a bit longer if for no other reason than Husband and I have different taste and we didn't love any of our original options. Girls' names are hard, but we finally have one that we both love.

Both names passed all the classic tests of "how would this sound as he walks across the stage at graduation?" and "are there any completely obvious ways that her name could be a teasing point?"

In addition, our last name is filled with potential jokes just waiting for people who think they are being clever and original to proclaim. Initials before the word "Flippin" are a key deciding factor, and Husband is great at coming up with all the potential downfalls of any combination, since he grew up with the last name and is surrounded by high schoolers daily.

So, that was a factor, and if our kid inherits my "I look like a twelve-year-old, even though I am of a perfectly legitimate age to be having a child"-ness, then he or she needs a dignified name to enter the workforce. Nothing too cutesy for this momma, but also nothing obviously passe that would make our infant bear the name of a person who should be of retirement age.

We also wanted to honor people in our lives who have made an impact on us and for our kid to have some heritage and tradition tied up in his or her moniker. All this to say, as soon as we know if our baby is a boy or a girl, the perfect name we have decided on will be in use, but not on the blog.

My name is attached to the blog, and I don't regret that, but I am mindful that the interwebs are not always a safe place, and anyone could read what I write. I want to be able to share pictures and stories about our kid, but I don't ever want to be afraid that a creeper is reading them and could then track us down, hence not giving our child's legal name or location.

I enjoy reading other people's blogs, especially young moms, and I hope and assume that either the people interested in reading this know me or they're genuinely interested in what I write but have no intention of ever stalking me (like I do for so many of the bloggers I follow).

To bring this long, drawn-out post to a close, I will be blogging about the baby, and I will be sharing about his or her life because it is irrevocably tangled up with mine, but I will call him or her by a blog-specific nickname, and I will be respectful of the fact that what I put on the Internet is out there forever. My kid doesn't have a voice yet, so I will be careful not to over-share or post anything that might someday shame my kid.

Phew, stay tuned for some lighter posts (with pictures) and the upcoming news of whether I'll be mothering a little boy or girl.

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