Kidspeak

The kids are really into naming all of their stuffed animals (or "pets", as they call them) lately. The problem is, they're not that inventive with the names yet. They tend to name the stuffed animal exactly what animal it is. Needless to say, we have a preponderance of "Doggys" and "Kitties" in our house. When we suggest a name, they tend to run with it and name all of their pets this same name. It makes for a frustrating bedtime routine when your child is trying to find Katie to sleep with and there are 20 plus Katies she could be referring to. Anyway ....

I've really been encouraging the kids to think up some new and original names for their pets. Adah received a unicorn for Christmas and we had the following conversation the other day when I was pleading with her to name the thing anything but "Unicorn" or "Nora" (which is her random go-to name for pets - weird, I know - we don't even know a Nora).

Me: "Adah, what do you think we should name your unicorn? Is it a boy or a girl?"

Adah: "Oh, he's a girl"

I'll give you a minute to read that last sentence again. Well, I guess it's the 21st century ...

Me: "Ok, what do you want to name her? Except for Unicorn or Nora?"

She pauses for a moment to inspect the unicorn and her features. She turns her over, looks up and down, and suddenly it dawns on her ...

Adah: "Oh Mom, I know! I'll name her Horny!"

 Perfect.

Maybe Nora wasn't such a bad name after all.