Seriously, I have no idea why Samuel is such a smelly child half the time. I'm constantly picking him up in public and sniffing his pants to see if he's acquired a bit of extra diaper since we last saw each other. I promise I bathe this child, I truly do. But he is always sticky or musty or damp from some unknown source of liquid.
Eww.
And on a less disgusting note I was wasting time on the computer yesterday, waiting for David to get home from a late night shift so I could tell him there was spinach and chicken in the fridge for his dinner and kiss him goodnight before I headed off to bed, and while I was wandering around the marvelous interweb I came across a blog post that discussed the meaning of names.
I love names. I love them so much it is almost a reason to have dozens of children just to use up all of the names I adore! Almost. Samuel means "God has heard", appropriately enough considering that the Biblical judge Samuel was concieved only after his mother prayed fervently for a child after being barren for years. David and I felt such kinship with this story that we knew Samuel was the name for our son. There were also Samuels on either side of the family, but far enough back so that there would never be confusion, and all deceased so that the 'big Samuel and little Samuel' situation wouldn't occur. And then David and I used our fathers' names as middle names, and there you have it: Samuel Timothy Frederick.
Just as well, since we could never agree on a girl's name anyway. But I'm a planner at heart and I've been thinking and thinking about what we could name a second child. Hmmm...which name to choose? Nathaniel was always a favourite until I tried the names together and if you have a Samuel and a Nathaniel they sound much too matchy matchy for my tastes, plus David liked Daniel. If you have three sons and you name them Samuel, Nathaniel and Daniel...well I don't need to tell you how yuppy-ish that sounds. Same for Susannah for a daughter, a great option for say, child #3, but a Samuel and a Susannah begs the question "Is Saul next? Then Sadie, Sally, Solomon, Sarah..." Sarah, we really liked Sarah, can't do it for #2. "But David", I'll ask, "the real question here is do we want to stay Biblical with each name?". If so, we're a little over our heads with the girl's side of things. We loved Priscilla but, um, if your last name is Presley you can't have the first name Priscilla. Plus, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 'Nuff said. We loved Elizabeth, but can't use it for family reasons, except as maybe a middle name. At one point I suggested Keziah. "Keziah?" David said blankly "Yes, one of Job's beloved daughters. It means cinnamon." And then the moment passed and I realized what was I thinking? A lifetime of the nickname Kezzie? KEZZIE? My daughter would hate me.
The world is full of Noahs and Aarons and Calebs, Jonahs and Jacobs and Peters. Samuel is no better, just as popular, though we chose it for different reasons. Do we want to completely jump the name bandwagon with #2? Should we have a Samuel and, say, a Clementine. Samuel and Agamemnon? Samuel and Keziah? No, it needs to fit the family. David, Amy, Samuel, and....Glorianna. Oh my. Not a good fit. Maybe we should stay in the clear and go for a name that, while it may be over-used at the moment, will at least not make our child stand out. Nothing wrong with Anne, John or Isaac. Nothing at all. On the other hand, and this is just playing devil's advocate, as anyone growing up in the 80's could tell you, if you're, say, a Jennifer in a classroom of other Jennifers, you'll forever be Jennifer L. or Jennifer T. Or you'll have to default to a nickname. How many classes had a Jen, a Jenn, a Jenny and a Jennifer. I can't say for certain that that won't happen with John. Do I want my John to be one of multiple Johns?
Or maybe there's nothing wrong with Samuel, Susannah and Sadie. Maybe Samuel, Nathaniel and Daniel will be just fine. Maybe we'll name them hypenated names and get rid of the choosing part: Nathaniel-John and Sarah-Anne. Problem solved.
Till #3 comes along.
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