LOOK - It's a BUG!

I have a 15 year old daughter named Bug. No, no…I didn’t give her the lovely name of Bug at birth. She chose that moniker all on her own, last year, when she started at a new school. On all her registration forms, with teachers, even the principal, she asked to be called Bug even though, now this is the ironic part, she screams for about 11 minutes without taking a breath if she ever sees one. This screaming, however, does not include time spent looking at herself in the mirror, unless she has just been out with friends and discovers broccoli in the teeth.

Do you know how disconcerting it is to have an adult presence call up and ask for ‘Bug’ when you have given your child a perfectly normal and polite name? I wonder what she will do when it is time to change her name back. I mean…she can’t be Bug forever, can she? Can you imagine working in corporate America with ‘Bug’ on your Vice-Presidential nameplate? I thought not.

Names are funny. Some are just more suited for adults and some for kids. Naming your child Mansford Dillingsworth Smith will work well when he is a banking mogul, but lacks panache on the playground. On the other end of the spectrum, Bunny, Missy or Buffy may be adorable for a little moppet, but they don’t work so well for a R.S. or PTA President.

Perhaps the best thing is to let kids grow into their names. Maybe I should have started out by naming my daughter Larva and then, Bug would actually be the adult adaptation. Larva … um … it has a nice ring to it. But for now, at least Bug doesn’t have a rabbit…get it? Bug’s bunny!