The Name Game

For months , before the arrival of my first son, my husband and I spent hours on end trying to contrive the perfect name for our first born. We wanted something meaningful and special. My husband turned down my suggestion of Jameson, saying that it sounded like I picked it off the shelf of a liquor store. And I quickly vetoed his suggestion of John Deere Putnam. "Are you kidding?" I replied, "I can hear the kids on the playground, "Hey John Deere want to come mow my lawn?"

After much deliberation and great thought we decided on Scott Michael Putnam Jr., after my husband of course. We thought our eldest son would be proud to share his Daddy's name. Yet, he insists that everyone call him Peter.

Everywhere we go he proudly boasts his name is "Peter the Knight!" Last week I dropped my son off for his first swimming lesson at the local YMCA. When I returned to pick him up, the instructor walked my son over to me with a perplexed look on her face and asked, "is this your son?"

"Oh, boy. What did he do now?," was my first thought. "Yes," I replied.

"What is his name?"

"Scott," I said.

"And his last name?" she asked.

"Putnam," I knew where this was heading.

The swimming coach continues, patting my son on the head, "He told us his name was Peter the Knight. So I thought he meant Peter Knight. But I didn't have a Peter Knight on my roster. I thought we had the wrong kid in the class."

With an embarrassed giggle, I said I was sorry and explained that my son has decided to call himself "Peter the Knight" after a character in the movie Narnia.

I'm sure that there are a lot of little boys that prefer to be called by names that they think are way cooler than their own. Like Spiderman, Superman, or Batman, but at least if they tell someone that their name is Superman, one can infer that is not his real name. Although if my husband was ready to name our son after a tractor than I am sure that there are some boys out there with some Super names.

Bringing Sexy Back

I too like Justin Timberlake want to bring sexy back. Some time, after baby number three, I lost the whole concept of sexy. Maybe out of fear that it would bring baby number four!

After watching an inspirational OPRAH, , I decided it was time to conquer my fear.

I set out determined to bring my sexy back. My decision easily lead me to these beautiful black patten leather peep-toe heels called Ginger. Even the named screamed sexy. I put them on. Excitement started to bubble inside me! Yes, these could definitely do the trick. I checked out the price. They were on sale, $18, marked down from $70. Sold!

I called my husband and told him that I bought a sexy little number that I would gladly exhibit for him when I got home.

When I walked through the door my husband was eagerly awaiting my big reveal. I told him to close his eyes while I slipped into my new something. A second later I told him to open his eyes.

The look on his face wasn't exactly what I was going for. I was hoping for a "Wow, strut on over here" look. But my husband looked wildly confused.

"Don't you like them?" I asked with disappointment.

"So where's the sexy little number you're going to surprise me with?" he responded with equal disappointment.

"These are my sexy little number!" I replied. "Aren't they beautiful?"

My husband still looked confused. So I explained my new plan about how I wanted to feel sexy and feminine.

Although my dear hubby tried to understand, he just didn't get it. "You're home with the kids all day, where are you ever going to wear those things?"

Visions of Ginger and I vacuuming the house and heading out to the grocery store suddenly popped into my head. Hmmm. I guess I could see his point.

Determined not to part with my new heels, I reasoned all the events coming up that I could wear Ginger to, weddings, showers, even a bachlorette party, which would be my first outing with Ginger.

It was a Saturday night and I was feeling pretty good about the way I looked. I slipped Ginger on and off I went, strutting down the stairs ready to prove to my husband that I would get some use out of my new purchase. Except, I wasn't really strutting, it was more of a slow wobble. I looked like a seven year old girl trying to look cool, walking around in her mother's heels. Definitely not sexy.

What can I say, if at first I don't succeed then I will try, try and try again!

Mom's Cutbacks

My husband and I have recently found ourselves on the brink of a crisis. It seems that lately when it comes to spending money that I have as much control as a teenage girl during prom season. In recent months, we've had weddings, showers, birthdays and three growing boys to feed, and I see no end in sight. We have more weddings to attend, it's always someones birthday and my boys seem to get hungrier with each passing day.

So in order to avoid a financial predicament, my husband asked me to moderate my spending. Easy enough. I thought, "I can be conservative. I'm sure there are lots of things that we don't need that I can cut back on."

A few days later, my loving hubby was helping me empty the dish washer. He pulled out a few straws and asked "why are you washing straws?"

"You said that I should try and be more conservative," I replied sheepishly.

I could hear the restraint in his voice, he was trying not to laugh, "Straws are probably a penny a piece. When I said that you need to cut back your spending, I meant that you should stop buying new dresses or new shoes not stop buying straws."

Hmmm. Clearly not the reaction I hoped for. I guess I shouldn't tell him about the Ziplock bags that I washed out and packed his lunch in.