Small and I were at the playground recently when a woman who was there with her daughter and granddaughter struck up conversation, as playground adults are wont to do.
She assumed Small was a girl, which many people do (on account of his ridiculous cuteness, I think). Normally I just respond, "Oh, actually he's a boy" or similar, but I wasn't in that chatty a mood and just let it go. Besides, who cares?
When Small and I were leaving the playground, the woman smiled and waved. "Bye," she called. "What's your daughter's name?"
I panicked. Correcting her this late in the game would be an admission that I had let her prattle on about how cute my "little girl" was without having the decency to let her know it was a little boy. But the other option was....
"Smallette," I called back.
"Bye, Smallette!" she called out. "Bye!"
I now live in dread of seeing her at the playground again.
15 years ago
7 comments:
Hahaha!! Sending you lots of "don't see that woman again" vibes!
I think I would have just given her "Small" and let her wonder if you were the sort of horrible person that allows her to call your son a little girl, or rather the sort of horrible person that gives her daughter a boys name....or maybe *she* is the horrible person for making assumptions about how other people parent gender roles...!!! Then you could hide behind a tree and wait to see how long it takes her to explode! Great fun.
I once knew a woman who's name was "Fred". Not Frederica, not a nickname. Her birth certificate said "Fred". And she was an excellent Fred.
I actually know a woman named Dean, who goes by Dena, but still has Dean on her professional signature because she published under her formal name :)
Ah, she'll forget all about it. It takes me several encounters before I can remember the kid's name. And several more before I know the parents as anything other than "X's mommy and daddy".
Both of our girls were born essentially bald. And Hubby hates pink. So I spend the first year or so saying, "actually, she's a girl." I don't know why, but some people are really freaked out that they got it wrong. Personally, I think you get a free pass until at least school age.
LOL--that totally happens to us (with both kids, even our 3 year old). Luckily, both kids have names that are used for either gender. :-)
Hmm....I wonder if naming a future rockin' female scientist with an ambiguous name might be helpful for them further down the road. Not that I'm considering names based on hypothetical future careers or anything....
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