Friday, January 9, 2009

Come Again?

I stood there for a few seconds in silence while my otherwise slow brain cells processed what I had just heard. Ticking slowly, my brain evaluated with great care which neural pathway it would shoot the bewildering information my ears had received.
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Would the input be processed in such a way that it would strike me as funny? Or maybe it would it be interpreted altogether differently and sent down the "ignore and move on" pathway. Alternatively, it could be sent down a pathway which would subsequently raise my ire and ultimately result in anger (anyone who knows me knows how unlikely that scenario truly is).
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Lukas is in the Pre-toddler program at his daycare. The 12-20 months old group. Many of the little ones at this age are just beginning to exercise their vocal chords to form words. As would be expected, the end result often ends up an adorable variation on the intended word. It is one of the sweeter aspects of having a child this age. And, certain names can be especially vexing for the tots. So it has not been surprising to me to overhear a child or caregiver being given a nickname which the little ones can form more readily.
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In fact, I have heard several cute names used recently, including 'Bah-Bah' (Brandon), 'Lo-Lo' (Solomon), 'Roh-Roh' (Rosana), but was certainly not prepared for what I heard when Lukas and I arrived at daycare yesterday morning.
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"Look everyone, 'Lu-Lu' is here!!"
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Say what? LU-LU?. Are you kidding me?? My brain cells finally processed that thought, and it went straight down the indignation pathway. So, out of all the Nicknames we have for Lukas you would think that they have chosen one a bit less...how do I say it....FEMININE?
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I mean really, does this look like a Lu-Lu to you?

(Lukie Longshanks in the Visitors Clubhouse at Safeco Field)

13 comments:

nonna said...

wellll, lu lu might not be great, but as i was saying luke in my head the first name other than lu lu that popped into my brain was ku ku. so he can have a feminine nick-name that will make him tough (case in point: a boy named sue by johnny cash) or a nickname that sounds like he's nuts. :)

Anonymous said...

I would be insisting on something like Dude or Sir or something...

1sttimedad said...

Well, the Mariners jersey doesn't help ...

I bet if you're like me, you mentally went through a checklist of ways to make fun of each name on your wife's list, before the baby arrived. I bet Lu Lu wasn't on it.

Just don't let anyone call him that at home, because that's when it will stick! Good luck.

Captain Dumbass said...

How about Vlad the Impaler? It's got a ring to it.

Dude, awesome blog title and banner. I do a lot of Star Wars on my page so I am very impressed. And you're from Seattle. Pretty good all around.

Martin said...

ten bucks says he loves it!

Anonymous said...

No Lu-Lu in that boy! MOst of those kids probably can't make the "L" sound...it can't stick. Tell the instructors that if they don't change it quickly...you'll make all the other kids cry again and leave!

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Nonna - Ku Ku doesn't work for me either. I like Lukie Long Shanks. Unfortunately, the kids might have a bit of trouble with that one.

@Kelley - Bud(let) works for me in that arena.

@Sci Fi - Max Power is damn near perfect. Would probably get shortened to Max though and I knew a kid named Max that would give me the wrong image.

@1sttime - The M's will be back. Mark my words. Definitely not getting called that around here.

@Captain DA - Thanks. Glad you like it. Been to Seattle? Vlad is better than Lu-Lu anyday.

@Xbox - He will like a lot of things that just are not good for him over the years. It's my job as dad to make sure he doesn't get too attached.

@MTAE - The voice of reason. Gotta like that! Thanks.

Anonymous said...

That ain't cool. Nip that one right now. I am all about keeping stereotypes to a minimum, but Lu-Lu crosses the line. Good luck.

Jason Roth said...

Let's just call him Spike.

Anonymous said...

It could be SO much worse...

My 2 year old daughter is in love with a book called "Hickory Dickory Dock". She can't quite pronounce Dock correctly and replaces the D with a C and loudly announces in her daycare that she loves "*OCK". I have to calmly explain that it's a book, and the title is "Hickory Dickory Dock"...like the mouse running up a clock, right? And that, yes, I am working with her to pronounce her D's. :) Arghhhh!

James (SeattleDad) said...

@DC- Yeah, that crossed the line, big time. I need to set them straight.

@Vegas - We've got a strange neighbor named Spike, so I might stike with Buddy.

@Super Mega Dad - Ahhh man, that is kinda funny but kinda frustrating at the same time. I feel for you. Thanks for stopping by.

Whit said...

That's messed up. I'd have to put a stop to that one.

James (SeattleDad) said...

@Whit - Yeah, that is messed up. I am going to have to pay for therapy years from now. For both of us.