Namecalling

Here's a little tidbit I've learned through experience: as a parent, you lose cred with the kiddos when you can't keep their names straight.

Example:

Me: "Daisy! Get down from there right now!"
Annabelle: "I'm not Daisy."

It has nothing to do with the fact that those particular two are twins; they are not identical and are easily told apart from one another. It's just that I can't seem to keep their names straight. Not just the twins, but any of the kids. Or the dog, for that matter.

The fact is, I rarely get any of their names right on the first try. Daisy probably thinks her name is Aunt Daisy, because I can't seem to blurt out her name without accidentally first starting to say her sister's name. It comes out like this: "Ann-Daisy!" Which sounds a whole lot like Aunt Daisy. There are also the following common combinations:

Deh-Ann-Lilah!
Deh-Ann . . .
Lilah-Finn . . .
Joey! Uh, I mean, Kevin. Did I just call you Joey?
Li-Annabelle!
Finn! I mean Twinkle!

Yes, even the dog often gets called by the wrong name.

Finn sometimes gets called Lilah, not because the two of them look anything alike or are even close to the same size, but because, I guess, somewhere along the line, I got used to calling the youngest "Lilah." And even though Finn has been the youngest for over two years now, my brain clearly hasn't completely processed this fact. And Twinkle is sometimes mistakenly addressed as Finn because on some deep level, my brain knows that the newcomer was Finn at some point, and has yet to completely assimilate Twinkle as the latest newcomer (over a year later).

Sometimes I resort to "Umm, you," or "What's your name again?" or "Which one are you?"

I'll never forget the time Michael addressed Joey as "Boy." I looked at him quizzically and asked, "What was that about?" He said, "I swear to God, I totally blanked on his name for a second!" We got a good laugh over that one.

It's no wonder they don't take us very seriously. I'm sure we come across as complete kooks to our kids.

Maybe name tags are in order?