Name calling

I've recently posted a question about whether or not I should say something to daycare for using "Lori" as a nickname for Ellie. As a result, I had a conversation with Michael about it and it turns out that even "Ellie" bothers him.

When we first came up with her name, we liked it because we could use "Ellie" as a family nickname. Michael liked that idea until "strangers" didn't know her real name. The real connection was this:

Ellie and I stayed with my sister and brother-in-law for a month when we first moved back to CO. Aunt Erin calls her Ellie. My brother-in-law's sister was living with them so she called her Ellie. Then at Aunt Erin's graduation dinner, the parents of the sister of the brother-in-law didn't know Ellie's real name. In fact, they thought that Ellie WAS her name. This bothered me, but it REALLY bothered Michael.

Since then I have tried to tell my family that we like them using Ellie, but to introduce her by her full name. But the damage has already been done. Apparently whenever he hears "Ellie" he cringes and wonders if the person even really knows her full name. He admits that it's not logical because he knows that Grandma knows her full name, yet he has the same thought whenever he hears her say Ellie. Same goes for Grandpa.

He also admits that it's probably something that just needs to take some time to get used to. Much like it will take me time to get used to people calling her Lori long before she's mature enough to be a Lori. I guess in the end, I now understand what other parents were saying when they got upset that people don't use their children's full names. Thank goodness we didn't have a boy and named him Harrison, even though Grandma insisted no one uses the name Harry anymore. LOL.