Monday, November 14, 2011

A Child Named Na

“I get tired writing my name. So I stop at A,” Natalie explained matter-of-factly.

It wouldn’t be so bad if she weren’t referring to the SECOND letter of her name.

“I named you Natalie,” I said. “Not Na.”

Seriously.

She brings home PreK work with her named signed like this:



“I like Na better,” Natalie replied, flipping her hair over her shoulder. She’s four but she likes to act like she’s fourteen. I was always worried that people would try to shorten Natalie as she grew. My biggest fear was Natty. Or Nat. If anyone ever asked for Nat I’d have been like, “I’m sorry, a gnat is an annoying bug. I named my daughter Natalie.”

But NA?

I never thought I’d have to worry about NA.

“I didn’t name you Na,” I repeated through clenched teeth. “I will not call you Na. We are not in Hollywood. We don’t have to go by ridiculous names. I mean, what was Jason Lee thinking naming his son Pilot Inspektor? And I love Neil Patrick Harris but Gideon? No.” I looked Natalie in the eyes. “You are Natalie. You know how to spell it, I’ve seen you. Don’t grow up to be lazy. Don’t be one of those people that circle the parking lots again and again until they find a spot up front.”

Natalie blinked at me.

“How do you spell your name?” I pressed.

Natalie sighed. “N-A-T-A-L-I-E,” she grumbled.

“Great. Then spell that on your papers.”

“But it’s too long. I’m Na.”

I rubbed my temples. It was clear it was going to be a double chocolate kind of night.

So hi. I’m Amber and apparently I have a daughter named Na.

40 comments:

  1. It is so hard when they get an idea in their little heads isn't it!!

    And double chocolate cures almost everything :)

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  2. Gawd, your child cracks me up so much. She's a clever one, that Natalie. Or is it Na?

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  3. How about double chocolate with an espresso? Yeah, that should do it.

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  4. This is so funny. I love the name Natalie, but your daughter is so cute, I am sure it will pass.

    Ethan has a girl in his class named Kaiden. There is also a boy named Caden. So girl Kaiden goes by KD (said Katie). She loves it but I don't think her parents are too happy.

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  5. I love the name Natalie. Your daughter does crack me up.

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  6. NA, as in what you write on forms when you don't want to fill in the blanks. She's a smart cookie, that one.

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  7. She is certainly a free thinker - that will either get her far or she'll be in kindergarten forever!-ha!

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  8. Is it shameful to admit that I shorten my own name so I'm kind of (only KIND OF) on Na's side :)

    When I'm signing off in emails or messages to friends, I always write "Chan".

    But then, a lot of my friends call me Chan (pron: shan) because they can't pronounce my name in the same way that my family does - it should be pronounced {Sh-ah-n-tell}. The Aussie accent just doesn't allow for it though - it sounds like {Sha-an-tal} or {Shon-tal}.

    Realistically, Natalie doesn't have that excuse because her name is pronounced as it's spelt (lucky thing). So tell her from me that she should be glad that 99% of people will spelt and pronounce her name correctly - as long as SHE does too ;)

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  9. Hmm... she needs one of those "fitness camps" so she doesn't get tired so soon...

    Perhaps one of those 15 minute, 2,000 letter work outs?

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  10. I can't help but laugh! That is just too cute! Well, I mean unless she really does grow up and just want to be NA.

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  11. Am, Am, Am. . . you've got a looooong road ahead of you.

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  12. Oooo she's a tough cookie! I think it's funny that she just nonchalantly said there's too many letters. At four!!!

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  13. Oh man, my little one is 4yrs old, too...and they're such little pills! I think this is what we get for allowing them to be such little free-thinkers!

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  14. Just think about it this way. She's SO headstrong, you won't have to worry about her falling for peerpressure?! ;o)

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  15. I love posts about Natalie, or Na!! She is really way too funny! I admire your ability to keep up with her and I pray for your ongoing strength as she gets older!!! Great post! Thanks!!

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  16. I have a Maddie who changed her name to Maddy because it was shorter. It was taking her much too long to write that one extra letter. Oh these girls!

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  17. hahahaha! Mine came home last year or so and was like, I'm Liv. Um, no. I named you Olivia. Well, I like Liv better.

    Great - now I'm Steven Tyler with a Liv and a Mia. Oy.

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  18. How cute lol. My mom always got mad because people would shorten our names. She'd say, I named you that for a reason! She especially hated when people called me Chanty and not Chantal.

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  19. "We're not in Hollywood" - hilarious.

    My mother - fortunately - never allowed anyone to call me Nicki. Thank GOD. "Her name is NICOLE" she would say.

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  20. So cute! Double chocolate nights fix just about everything.

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  21. Ohhh, that's good. She's a smart one.

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  22. Ha! She's smart. Hope you liked your chocolate. :)

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  23. She is adorable. NA! I read and just can't help laughing. I can only imagine. Children always win don't they? Although I've never heard of a Natalie with the nick name Na. Love your post and no need to wish you luck persuading her. Looks like she made up her mind.

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  24. No, you are Am. Can't wait to see her at fourteen. (oh, sorry, fo)

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  25. I have 2 more letters in my name than she does, so I'm sorry. Gonna have to side with Na on this one. :)

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  26. Ugh. I've been Nat for too damn long. But nothing, absolutely nothing can be worse than the fat obnoxious girl that called me "Na-leee" for ten years of my school life. When I see her now I just want to smack her in the face!

    Tell Natalie her name is beautiful, and being too tired to write her name is like paying for the ferris wheel and never going on it.

    Enjoy your chocolate.

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  27. That is just too funny! She's so cute, and she's RIGHT! That's 7 whole letters - hard work for a preschooler. My daughter does the same thing, she likes to sign things wtih just the FIRST letter, tho.

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  28. When I was pregnant, my father in law suggested naming a baby girl after his mother. My husband's grandmother's name was "Naetella". We compromised and put "Natalie" on the list, but I vetoed it once I realized just how many people would have called her "Natty".

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  29. We have a really long last name, so #1 (son) has a name that is only 4 letters and #2 (daughter) has 3 letters. And, they're not common or made up names. We kinda scrolled through the obituaries to find names that were not used anymore. :-)

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  30. Oldest has 3 letetrs in his name. No issue there. Youngest has 5. He's changed his name to Seamus.

    I have no idea why, or how, but he has.

    It cracks me up.

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  31. Too funny! My son's name is Jackson and he is 4 and he does the SAME THING! Comes home with all his sheets just saying JA. :)

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  32. That's just awesome...love her independence. At the same time, I'd be rubbing my temples too!

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  33. You are going to have your hands full with that one! Wait until she really is 14.
    Sandy

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  34. Uh, you Am?

    My poor mother named me a perfectly respectable and not burdensomely long "Mary," but my college friends couldn't pronounce it (the drugs were great back then) and slumped it into "Murr."

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  35. LOL! That's funny!
    I'm waiting for the day my daughter shortens hers. It's: Lylabelle ... and I'm sure shortening it is inevitable. ;)

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  36. The whole name writing thing is so overrated. ;)

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  37. This is too funny!! I dont sign my name..I just scribble a J with stuff behind it.. so I guess it will happen one day... My little man will be a Jo. =)

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  38. If you ever figure out how to cure that kind of laziness can you let me know? Yeah, I'd appreciate that. Thankfully my son has only 4 letters in his but that is SO something he would do!

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  39. I laughed so hard when I read this...sorry! I could totally see my daughter doing something like that, but hopefully she isn't too lazy to write Gia...although we do walk around calling her "G"...so maybe we are already instilling laziness in her.

    My husband rides around looking for a closer spot...it's so annoying! Just park already and we will WALK to the store quicker than it will take to find a prime spot (which we almost never do and end up parking further than the original spot that he passed up).

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