A few days ago, a friend on Facebook and her husband had a
baby. Mother and son are doing fine and I suspect that the rest of the family
are doing well too. There will be some adjustment of course, but that is what
happens when a family expands. Everyone on Facebook and in person is very happy
for them and wish the newcomer to the planet a very warm welcome.
They named their son Easton ,
which is a pretty cool name and I was sure that somewhere in the depths of my
past I had known someone who had that name, but for the life of me I couldn’t
remember who. It turns out that Easton
is a sports equipment company and since the family is just crazy about
baseball, the name makes sense.
One of the first things I do when I hear about a new birth
is to try and anticipate what the kid will be called after the “Baby Boy” tag
is removed. Parents wrack their brains to come up with the perfect name for
what will be the perfect child. I am sure that my mom and dad did the same
thing and even though I was named Kenneth, I was known as Kenny, Ken, Harrison
and more than a few unflattering names during my lifetime. I was lucky; no one
felt the need to give me a name like Dopey, Smelly, Master Bater, four-eyes or
any of a million unpleasant names that can stick with you throughout your life.
I have thought of a few for Easton ,
but it is better that those names grow organically and hopefully are welcomed
by little Easton . Kids can be
cruel. Sometimes, the worst names are the ones your mom and dad use on a daily
basis. It isn’t so bad when your parents are using them, but when your buddies
hear those baby names you kind of wish you were dead.
When I was named in the early fifties, the name Kenneth was
very popular for some reason. I did a quick search and couldn’t find any good
reason. To the best of my knowledge, no one in the family had the name Ken.
Maybe that was the point. In grade three, there were five Kens in my class and
the teacher made us sit in different rows in order to keep track of us.
Sometimes parents name their kids after a loved family member of pick a name
that has nothing to do with the family so that neither side can get upset.
I have noticed a recent trend for parents to make up names
or put odd spelling to common names. I suppose they want their child to be
special. The kid is going to be special no matter what name is given. I think
it was better when names were given by the village elder, those names had
meaning. I have heard once that no one under thirty should be allowed to name a
child.
Anyways, Happy zero Birthday to little Easton
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