there are no accidents in the world:
magnificent and i recently flew UNITED airlines (not recommended)
magnificent and i try to create a UNITED front in front of our children
the result? our children have UNITED us, and created one new uber parent, named DADDY.
indeed, mummy is a name only sebastian uses, and that’s when he’s not calling me tess.
jasper started it. little lazy man suddenly decided it was too much effort remembering both mcs’ and my own parental monikers, and realised we both could nicely fall under the umbrella name "DADDY". so these days when he sees me, he is very happy to see me, smiles and raises his chunky arms to "DADDY!"
i thought it might be a really conscious thing, so this morning after a rousing four way chorus of "sleeping bunnies" made me realise they were up for good, i went into the nursery and was greeted with three voices shrieking, DADDY!
what IS this? would i be so upset if they were calling mc mummy? would HE be upset?
yes yes yes, it doesn’t matter what they call you as long as it is said with love, and no mistake, this most certainly is said with love. but this namelessness makes me feel rather bland. the triumverate just love elmo, and whenever i am reading their sesame street manners, clearing up or "happy and you know it" singing book, even the pages that DON"T have elmo on it, have my children happily declaring ELMO!!! ELMO!!! ELMO!!!
i am a second rate cartoon character.
for those of you wondering, i actually do a first rate elmo voice. it’s a gift. being in this nameless frontier is not. i am trying to put a positive spin on it, but need to blame myself a bit more first.
how could my kids do this to me? ingrates. they’re connecting words together, stumbling sentences usually featuring the words "no, share, me, pees, ‘nana, ta-too" .. and mummy is no where to be found. i thought we were having such fun lately!
i am a pathetic person. instead of exaulting about how great it is spending time with the kids these days (and it is a lot of fun), how they are learning to hail taxi’s, and the laughter we’re having, i’m banging on about how my name isn’t the one in headlines. i don’t deserve the name mummy, maybe that’s why they took it away. they sensed i was undeserving, the same way they know the difference between when i go into the pantry to grab a lightbulb and when i dash in there to stuff my gob with biscuits.
okay, i am beginning to see the positive…self pity is ending… wait, here it comes…it would make a great first line of jasper’s book:
i stopped calling my mother "mummy" before i turned two years old for the simple reason she displayed none of the characteristics that made her deserving of that cherished title.
i smell a best seller. and if he wrote it before he turned 19, taxes would be lower and he could pay his own university fees. the bank of dad is CLOSED jasper.
i could then write my own tell-all novel. the cover would have a tasteful black and white shot of me…my hair would be carefully draped over to hide the scars of my recent plastic surgery (good looks sell books!) and the title, "mummy loves you" would be in a carefully constructed curly cue font. i would also be holding an expensively framed picture of jasper and myself.
i love that i can see the positive.
and now i seriously need to exercise. i have been eating gummy bears since 6am and am bouncing off the fricking walls.
Reader interactions
7 Replies to “say my name”
Oooh, I can’t believe it! I’m sure this will be a short-lived phase, and you will be laughing hard about it. But I would definitely be miffed if my trio did that!
Hmmm, I think Jasper and the girls have a sense of humour! “Hey, watch how that line in Mummy’s forehead gets all deep when I call her “Daddy!” You do it too, and maybe that vein will stick out again. Cool!”
Still and all, I am very impressed that all three are making clear words and little sentences too. Our trio did not really start on single words until 21 months. At their 2nd birthdays, the girls had about 50+ words and were starting 2-word phrases, but our son still had only about 10 words, and we were quite worried about the delay.
Then he caught up with a vengeance in the next 6 months, and became the clearest speaker and most talkative of the three. He remains the extrovert, and the one most comfortable talking with adults and people he doesn’t know. I guess he just had a phase of listening and taking it all in, before he began to spill out all his thoughts.
Anyway, sounds like all three of your beautiful children are speaking well, especially for preemies. Hooray, hooray, hooray for them! And learning how to tease their mother? Well, not so great, but I guess you might as well get used to it!
Best wishes,
Hey, looks like Sheila is from Sask?? Cool, me too!
Sorry Tess, but this was funny. I know how you feel, though.
I can tell you now how I know you. I mean, I just found out how the friend who pointed me in your direction knows you:) I have been lurking and commenting for some time.
Your younger sister babysat a friend of mine’s kids in Yellowknife. And your mother (and I assume sister??) attend the same church. I don’t want to say names on here in case she doesn’t want me to.
Anyway, when the trips were born she told me about it and I have been following your story ever since. Now I am hooked on blogs and have one of my own!!!
I am planning on posting something about how early/late etc that my kids spoke.
Carry on the good parenting!!
laura – charles and i are trying to leave you messages on your blog but are unable to…please send me your email address!
Oh I am sure it will pass….at least I hope it will! Maybe Charles could give them a little help…..I’m Daddy – this is Mummy….kind of thing.
And YES – Tess does the most amazing Elmo voice! It is perfect!
And now – my advice for the day…..STEP AWAY FROM THE GUMMY BEARS!!!!!
I wish you women would make a common decision. Your mother gets right irate when I call her MUMMY!
Tess,
You have humored me once again. I loved this blog. Sorry about the Mommy thing, but this sure was fun to read!
Hugs from Alberta,
Karen
being called daddy is nothing. how about walking in the room and being told, “no mommy! go `way!”
feel the love :).