Thursday, August 30, 2007

What's In a Name?

Many years ago, around the time that Girl Thing was born, I used to post on various forums. I had just become a SAHM and was really into the whole "being a mom is my identity" thing. I thought that Madre de Dos was a cool username. Eventually people on the boards just started calling me Madre (I sometimes wonder if they realized that they were calling me "Mother"). Fast forward 9 months to when I found out I was pregnant again. Alarmed by the fact that we were adding two more people to our family, I changed my name to Madre de Mas Y Mas. When the twins were born I settled on Madre de Muchos because that's how I felt, like I was a mother of (way too) many.
I am beginning to realize that, even though I feel like I am inundated with children, I really don't have that many. I look at some of my fellow birth workers who have 5, or 8, or even 11 children, or I read blogs by people like Swistle, and I start to wonder if this blog really deserve the name I've given it. I mean if I'm Madre de Muchos what the heck do you call someone like Michelle Duggar?

What do you think? Am I due for a name change? Feeling like I have a whole lot of kids has been part of my identity for so long, it's weird to realize that the name really doesn't fit.

3 comments:

Julie said...

I think your name fits. 4 is a lot of kids these days. Sure there are people who have more, but most people don't.

Also, I think that, somehow, there's a line - with 1, you have a kid, with 2 you have a couple of kids, with 3 you have a few kids, with 4 you have many kids - and no matter how much you add after 4, you still have many. 4 is that line, once you cross over it, you're in the land of many. So it makes sense for you, being at the edge of the land of many - to take on the name.

Then, too, I think often when you get into a WHOLE LOT of kids, anything over 10, you're working on a whole other level. The kids are interacting with each other in different ways, and the older kids are more independent, or even adults - that's just a different thing from having all school age or preschool kids.

For example, my grandmother had 14 children and by the time the youngest was born (my father) the oldest was on her honeymoon. By the time she was on her 8th or 9th kid, she never had to grocery shop, because there was always a kid around who was old enough to do it.

So, hold on to that name. It flows and it fits!

Anonymous said...

I love your name. Keep it!
I read this blog and love it. She has 7 kids and a great perspective: http://www.notesfromthetrenches.com/

Doulala said...

Fat Lady & Leigh,
Thank you for bringing me back to my senses.
I feel a sense of relief now that I've decided to keep it. :-)