Bob and Jerry

Jerry and Zar

Before I start this blog post, I'd like to make sure it's clear that the names Bob and Jerry are perfectly fine names and I know some great people with those names.

As I think I've mentioned before on here, Andrew goes by Baba, the Swahili word for father, with our kids. Of course we lived in Tanzania when he decided to be Baba instead of Dad or Father (does anyone actually call their father Father?), where it was a bit more common than it is here in Western PA, but I think he'd have chosen it anyway. We like being a little unique. I'm Mama, which is both Swahili and English, so that was a straightforward choice.

Sometimes Zarya calls me Mom instead of Mama, usually after being around other kids and hearing them call their mothers by that. Although it's not my preference, it's not a big deal, and sometimes I don't really notice, because the two sound pretty similar.

What we do notice, however, is when Baba becomes Bob. I guess Zarya figured out the Mama/Mom connection, heard other kids call their fathers Dad or Daddy, and so created Bob out of Baba. It was just occasional at first, but it's like she thinks it's just too much effort to get out two syllables of Baba and now prefers to keep it short and sweet, Bob. A few times I've even heard her call him Bobby... We're going to be out in public someday and she's going to yell across the room, "Hey Bob!" just like she does at home. Eventually this Bob business will get to the point when other adults assume his name is Bob and that he's her step-dad and she calls him by his first name.

He tries to call her Zar every time she calls him Bob, as in, "Hey Bob!" followed by, "Yes, Zar?" She gets mad and insists that her name is Zarya, and seems to miss the point as he explains that his is Baba.

And if having Bob around weren't enough, Jerod has become Jerry recently, too. Andrew and I never, ever call him Jerry. Nothing against the name Jerry, but that's not what I'd like to call my baby boy. I'm hoping that he sticks with Jerod. If he wants to be cooler and go by Jer at some point in his future, fine. But not Jerry. Zarya, however, seems to think Jerry is a great name and calls him that quite regularly, and she never consulted me on the matter of his nickname. Crazy toddler!