Full Name Tragedy

Clip art courtesy http://etc.usf.edu/clipart

How do your children know their full names?

You say it when they get in trouble, right? 

He spilled cheerios all over the floor: "Thomas Freeman Watson!" 

She left the hose out in the driveway and the handle got run over and crushed: "Brittany Ray Newsom!"

How much time did you spend deciding on that middle name? You may have spent months doing research on meanings of names, saying them over and over to hear how the first and middle sounded together, maybe looking into family genealogy, and even making sure that it didn't spell a bad acronym!

But now, to use that child's precious full name - the name that you gave him on the day of his birth - only when he gets in trouble? Well, that's a tragedy. 

But what do you do about it?

One thing I have done since my children were infants is to use their full names when saying "good night" to them.

So I will say, "I love you, Victoria Grace Newsom." 

And she will say, "I love you, Mommy Newsom."

Then we will say any other good night words, and I say a prayer for that specific child.

Speaking your child's full name in a positive way, and as a regular ritual, such as before she goes to bed, gives comfort and confidence in who she is as a child in your special little family.

So start a new tradition...lose the full name tragedy, and embrace some new good night words:)

(I am linking this article to Raising Homemakers.)