Nicknames

After watching Roy Halliday's no-hitter last night (Go Phillies!), I met a bunch of other preschool moms at a local bar at a back-to-school night get together/meet and greet.  It was fun to go to a real bar on a school night (gasp!) and just hang out for a few hours. Several important lessons for me: 1) I have forgotten just how loud bars are.  2) My clothes are ridiculously out of style, but I got a free pass on the red T-shirt because of the whole no-hitter thing. and 3) I absolutely love, Love, LOVE that bars are now smoke-free.  My horribly out-of-style clothes did not reek of smoke when I returned home at a respectable 10pm.  But, I digress.

I was talking to two of the other mom's in Ben's preschool class, and was a little surprised to learn that Ben has told all of his classmates and teachers to call him BENNY BOY, which is our nickname for him at home. I learned this when Dylan's mom said, "Oh, are you Benny Boy's mom?  I have heard so much about Benny Boy from Dylan."  I thought to myself, "Benny Boy????"

Here at home, I probably call Ben just plain old "Ben" more often than not, but we use the "Benny Boy" moniker enough that Ben now thinks this is his real name. I know this because I told Ben his real name was actually Benjamin, and he completely flipped out.  "NO, MOM, MY NAME IS NOT BENJAMIN, IT IS BENNY BOY.  BENNY BOY [LAST NAME]."  (I am using capital letters to simulate the 100+ decibel volume of his voice.  Maybe I should increase the font size too?)

After several attempts to explain the concept of nicknames and real names, I think he may now understand that Benny Boy is his nickname. Ben is quite emphatic that we will be continuing to use this nickname at home and at school, but at least he now realizes that I'm not making the whole Benjamin thing up anymore.  We also discussed his middle name, and that didn't go as well.  I may need to wait until Ben is old enough to read his Social Security card to convince him on that one.  Apparently, I haven't been yelling at him enough using his middle name like I do with the girls.  But, that's easily fixed, right!

Benny Boy wants to be a superhero for Halloween.  But, now I'm thinking a farmhand might be more appropriate. He could wear denim overalls, a red and white checked shirt, and some boots. I'll either have him chew on a toothpick or put some hayseed in his teeth.  And, he could hold a pitchfork as his "weapon" too.  Benny Boy would like that.