What's in a Name?

I have names on the brain today. I've decided to give each of my children a "cyberspace name". I know that probably only my closest friends will ever read this blog, but you never know and privacy is important for the protection of my family. I have had so much fun trying to think up alternate names for my kids that fit their personalities.

My 10 year old son is definitely Mr. Monk. This was an easy one to come up with. They share OCD and a hatred of germs in common. My son is much better looking than the "real" Mr. Monk, however, and is a great swimmer and has a rollicking sense of humor. He also loves the show Monk (I wonder why).

My 8 year old daughter is harder to pin a nickname on. She almost defies nicknaming by her very being. I'll call her Twinkle Toes. She is very graceful and does enjoy dancing. She's musical, artistic, and creative. She's also very serious and focused. She's not the type you tease, so I'm chuckling as I write this.

My 6 year old daughter already has a nickname that suits her perfectly. She's The Measle, or just Measle. The name goes back to when she was a baby and had a reaction to her MMR vaccine. We were on vacation and she broke out in this rash. It seemed appropriate and the name stuck. She's cute, little, and irritating (I mean that in the nicest way possible.)

My 3 year old son is my All American Boy. We actually adopted him from Kazakhstan when he was 11 months old. You would never know it, though, he looks and acts the part of an All American boy. I taught him a saying about his roots from the very beginning so he would never be shocked to learn that he's adopted. In the saying, we say his name and that he came all the way from Kazakhstan to Mommy and Daddy, and then we name his siblings, grandparents, etc. So the other day he called himself my Kazakhstan boy. I thought it was cute, but corrected him that he's my American boy. That same week I saw a t-shirt on sale at Target that said American Boy.

My 10 month old daughter is the Light of My Life. As she develops more personality I may have to change her nickname, but it will do for now.

This is not the only reason I've been thinking of names, though. So many labels that we place on ourselves are loaded, emotionally or otherwise. I'll give some examples and think about what comes to mind with each.

Calvinist
Quiverfull
Stay-at-home mom
Homeschooler
Conservative
Libertarian
Bibliophile

The problem is people are too diverse to stick a label on. In some way, shape, or form, I consider myself to be each of these. But there are also aspects of each, or at least stereotypes of each, that I don't believe describe me. I guess the best course of action is to try not to label ourselves or others, but to take people one at a time, as the individuals they are.