TO NAME OR NOT TO NAME

Now that is the Question????????

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By name I am referring to Nicknames.......

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What caused me to reflect on this was my grandson Hudson.....He had stopped by with a few of his friends. Four to be exact.....and right at dinner time. Hudson has always had impeccable timing.

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Anyway, while he and his pals were sitting around munching on the final remnants of dinner:  I, being a good host, happened to ask, "Hudsie would you and the rest of the fellas like anything else?" 

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Failing to notice the little hunch in Hudsie's shoulders

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 and getting no response I repeated my question this time using his full nickname - "Hudsie Louie Reesie Peacie." To which there was an out burst of laughter that Bob Hope would have been proud of. ???? What? What?

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Hudsie was the only one not laughing.....But the grieve stricken look on his face left no doubt that he wished he were not here. 

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Then it hit me!!!!! (sometimes the light switch has to be flipped more than once) I had used the family nick name in the wrong setting.

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What to do...

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I know, I'll just quietly creep back to the kitchen and load the dishwasher.

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Fiddle-de-de, I can't be expected to call Hudson anything besides his given nick name. I'm the Granny for crying out loud..... It's not my fault his bosom buddies don't get that. Besides Mae and Danny (mom& dad) are the clan members who designated this handle.......Somehow I just couldn't reconcile my blunder. No matter how much I rationalized my poor choice of communication it was "my bad" that had caused Hudsie such total embarassment. 

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So why do we have nicknames......?  What on earth causes us to label the ones we love most with names other than the one they were given at birth? Everybody does it...Come on admit it.......You've got one, right?

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Bottom line I think family nicknames are usually generated by LOVE. We feel the need to make our clan members know they are so special that they should have an extra special name. So as long as there are people out there who think their clan members are special I don't imagine that family nicknames will ever go away. 

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Sorry Hudsie

Gabby Granny - (sometimes called Pidgeon)

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Got a tale to tell about your nickname? Write Granny all about it.