Another installment in the saga of how our kids got their names.
I wrote earlier how our #1 son got his name, nickname, and even an alternate nickname that followed him through his childhood years. When our second child was on the way, the ordeal began again. Not sure whether he would be a boy or girl, his name could have been Amber Ashley, but as it turned out, he didn’t qualify for a name like that, and besides, my sister found out about the name and staked her claim on it for her second daughter, only she reversed it to Ashley Amber.
We settled on Michael pretty quickly, but couldn’t come up with a middle name. Should we name him after a grandparent? Come up with something that complimented his name? With such a common name as Michael, maybe we should tag him with a middle name that was unique, but not the kind that’s going to start any playground fights, should he want to go by it instead.
When son #1 was born, Robin already made it plain she didn’t want a Keith Jr running around. I honestly can’t remember any of the Alternatives we choose for Michael’s middle name, but it would definitely not be either Keith, or Eric.
As the time for the due date rolled around, i was facing a change of duty stations, and the race was on. My travel date was set. My date to report in was set. The thing that wasn’t set in stone was the date the baby was to be born.
Would he arrive before the movers came to pack our household goods for shipments? No.
Would he come before my leave was up, and shorten our stay in the base Hospitality House? No.
Time was running out fast.
I calculated the travel agenda to get me to my next duty station. I needed to drive #1 son to stay with grandparents, then make a return drive to the East coast where the car would be shipped from Charleston, SC. From there, I would hop a flight from the local air base.
Still no kid. I had to go, and so Robin moved off base to stay with friends and wait for the baby to decide to emerge.
It turned out the kid arrived about the time my flight was to lift off. I wouldn’t find this out for another 3 days. For the next few months, all I saw or heard from the kid was those initial baby pictures, and his little baby cries in the background, when making long distance calls. From all Indications, he looked like a Butch. A name I knew Robin was adverse to, but I knew it was going to be his nickname. Besides, Robin gave him his middle name, even though I thought we had decided against using my name. Michael’s middle name was Keith.
Robin told me she had second thoughts, and figured she’d give him my name after all. “What? No Keith Jr?” I probably asked. I suppose it would have been too much to ask. Plus we’d have two sons with the same middle name. We had already settled on the name Michael, so I guess that was enough to ask.
Time marched on and little Moose and Butch were filled with animosity towards each other from the beginning. Well, not so much from Mike to Chris, he was good with life, his big brother, and rising to the challenge to do more than kids his age were supposed to be able to do. Butch was a good nickname, even if Robin still wasn’t keen on it.
I think Moose was a little resentful that he wasn’t an only child any more. For the story on Moose, refer to the earlier article: Baby Names – Christopher Part 1of4.
But wait, there’s more in the way of nicknames. Just as with Chris, Michael ended up with an extra nickname.
It was dinner time. The kids were playing in the sand box in the park behind our base housing. I called out, “Chris! Mike! Time to eat!” Nothing. I tried again, “Moose! Butch! Come inside, its time to eat!” Nothing. Remembering my other nickname for Chris, I tried again, “Hey you!” Mike looked up. “Don’t you know your names? Your brother’s name is Hey You… you’re ‘No the Other One’ now both of you get in here.”
Thus was born the name and nick names of #2 son. Michael Keith, or Butch, or No the Other One.