Nickname Woes

Every child in our family has a cute nickname.

Giving our children nicknames keeps us close. But sometimes, the nicknames can cause problems!

Recently, the entire family was sitting at the table making dumplings when our son Jiaxia jokingly said to his big sister:

“Lingyi… your name is too hard to read. Because you like to stay close to us all the time, how about we call you ‘glue’?”

Everyone giggled, but Lingyi seemed pensive for a few seconds. I could tell she didn’t like it but to be a good sport, she joked:

“Okay, but if I am ‘glue’ I will glue us all together, starting with you Jiaxia.” And then she chased her brother around the table.

Everyone laughed but once the chase ended, Lingyi told Jiaxia: “I don’t like the nickname ‘glue.’ It hurts my feelings. I would prefer to be called Lingyi.”

“You are right. I’m sorry, I won’t use it again,” answered Jiaxia.

I was very impressed by Lingyi and how well she handled this situation!