Baby Names

The word is out now and my students at school know I am having a baby. I haven't necessarily told them all, but we live in a small town and go to a school where word spreads very quickly.

One of my 8th graders had managed to miss the rumor. Two days ago, he came into speech, took one look at me, and said, "Are you pregnant?" I asked what had made him say that, if someone had told him. He said "No, you just look pregnant." Well, it's a good thing I am, otherwise it may have been a major blow to the self esteem. I had actually bought some maternity pants the night before, and had resorted to wearing them that day because I couldn't bring myself to wear my one pair of snug dress pants for the third day in a row. Although I thought maybe my time had finally come to move from the "feeling chubby" stage to the "looking pregnant" stage, I think I was mistaken because no one has said anything since. I am starting to think it was just a particularly unflattering outfit.

Everyone of my students reacts a little different, but a lot of the little girls take it upon themselves to help me name the baby. One of these is a sweet little, red headed 6th grader. She would rather just "chitter chatter" during speech about baby names, than actually do any sort of speech therapy. I try to do my best at redirecting our attention back to the task at hand, but somedays I am sucker for hearing her suggestions. This was our conversation on Thursday....

Student: So do you know if you're having a boy or a girl yet?
Me: No, not for a couple more weeks.
Student: Do you know what you are going to name it?
Me: Well I have some names I like but I'm not sure yet.
Student: What about Jason?
(At this point, I think this is going to be long day for brainstorming names if we're starting with Jason. Although it is a fine name, I associate this name with people I don't have particularly fond memories of, therefore I would never use the name for one of my own children. "If the best she can come up with is Jason" I think, "this is going to be rough.")
Me: No, I don't really like that one so much.
Student: No? Why?
Me: Knew a kid in high school named Jason and I wasn't a big fan.
Student: Oh, okay. What about Wes, Wesley.
Me: Oooh, I actually kind of like that one.
At this point, I am amazed that the conversation seems to be taking a turn for the better- a remarkable recovery. And then she said it, a name that now has me hooked.
Student: Or Reese. That could be cute.
Me thinking: (Reese! I love it. Initially, I thought it would be great for a boy, but I think I am actually loving it for a girl's middle name. I still have to do a little convincing with Rode- it happens to be his boss' last name, so I don't know if he will go for it for a first name. Anyhow, I finally get this little girl focused on what we need to do in class, against her requests to just chit chat to practice her "s" sound. Unfortunately, she slipped a baby name in every chance she could get, and I realize now that this name game can be potentially dangerous...)
Student: What about Matthew?
Me: No, I don't really like that one.
Student: (Her face goes forlorn and she looks down at the table) That's my brother's name.
Me thinking: (Oops! Now I have to get myself out of this.)
Me: Oh no, it's a good name I just don't want to name my son that.
Student: What about Jennifer?
Me: No, definitely not Jennifer.
Student: (This time she looks morbidly offended) That's my aunt's name!
Me: No, no, it's a fine name, it's my sister in law's name, I just don't want to name my baby Jennifer. Do you want to name your baby Jennifer? (Why I was asking her this foolish question is beyond me. She is 12 years old and a few years off from deciding on baby names for herself! It was a sad attempt at trying to fix my unintentional offensive comment.)
Student: Well, I don't know!

And so it went.... we did eventually get some work accomplished, and I got a good name out of the whole thing, although I am starting to think I should avoid these types of conversations with my student's whose siblings and aunts and uncles and moms and dads names I don't know.

Well, you can count this as our latest baby update. We'll find out if its a boy or a girl on March 18! We're so excited. Our guess is a girl... I have never met a man more like my dad than Rode- he is just cut out to be a father of daughters. Let us know what you think.