Thursday, September 13, 2007

He turns in his grave, the Bard

Ok guys, if after this post you don't hear from me anymore, it probably means that my husband has murdered me and thrown my body into the Chaao Phraya river.

Tharini, this is all your fault! :-)

In the early months of Moppet's life, her Papa came up with the accurate, if unoriginal nickname of 'Poopy'. He'd go nose to nose with her and say 'Hi PooOOoopy', and about half the time she would respond with a grimace and live up to her name.

That wore off by the time she was about 5 or 6 months old and a new nick was created - 'Bumboola'. This one is still used on occasion, usually when she's done something naughty (Come here, Bumboola, you!)

But by and large, he has been wonderfully restrained in the matter of nicknames. He usually calls her by her name or the very innocuous 'Kiddo'.

So if it hadn't been for the fact that poor Moppet has an absolute loon for a mother, she would probably have gone through her childhood unscarred by any over the top monikers.

But alas, that was not to be. I mostly call her Kunji which translates to 'little one'. Variations are Kunjoos, Kunjubaba, Kunjubobs, and sometimes even K-bob, as in 'Whatcha upto K-bob?'

Kuttaapoo, Kuttaapi, and Kuttapai have also been employed at one time or another. Even Kunjukundi, which means 'little butt' (Oh dear, I have so got to take down this post before she learns how to read!)

But worst of all is our song. The last syllable of Moppet's name rhymes with 'me', so our song goes like this:

Mama: Who's Mama's cuddlebunny?
Moppet: Me, me, (her name)!
Mama: Who's Mama's chocolate puddin'?
Moppet: Me, me, (her name)!

You get the idea.

Moppet can't pronounce her name yet, so she only does the 'me, me' part - but she recognises the sing-song tone and usually answers 'me, me' to almost anything I choose to put into the song.

Therefore we have her enthusiastically saying 'me, me' in answer to 'potty queen', 'coconut head', and 'gudlugooba' (which means owl in Telugu), and pretty much anything that pops into my head. Umm, at what age do kids start consciously remembering this stuff? I had better stop before she gets scarred for life!

Now to diffuse the embarrassment by spreading it around a bit. Tagging NM, Cantaloupe's Amma, Rbdans (or DDMom), Mystic Margarita, Sunita, and Choxbox (although you're allowed to decline it if you think n3 might find it too embarrassing).

18 comments:

Sunita said...

"Kunjukundi" ... ha ha ha ..ROTFL with watery eyes.

utbtkids said...

I am laughing at kunjukundi too!

Squiggles Mom said...

I must say you guys were wonderfully restrained in our presence. Did not here even one being used. ALl that hard work only to have you blog about it :)).

WhatsInAName said...

lololol :)
I think this is a lovely tag.
Yes, I have been tagged for this but frankly its been quite sometime now. Let me try to remember :)

Parul said...

Very cute!

I am currently going through some of the mom blogs around here. Some awesome stuff, I must say, yours included. Delighted to read about the adventures of Moppet.

On the topic of nicks - my son (4.5 months old) is still being called Bundle ( bundle of joy, despair etc.) in some parts of the community...heh heh!!

Anusha said...

and you thought mine was worse becuase...??! she won't spare you for this one....so we both shall meet at the grave when our kids find out! haha at k-bob & potty queen!

DDmom said...

Whatever you'll did to Tharini!
ROFL on kunjukundi, potty queen, coconut head.. You better run for life when Moppet is old enough to understand it.

mnamma said...

ROFL on bumboola, kunjukundi and gudlugooba. You always bring a smile to my face when I visit here Moppet's Mom! Awesome :)Yeah and you better delete this before Moppet learns to read ;)

Cantaloupes.Amma (CA) said...

You have company in embarassment .... taken up your tag.

Maggie said...

Sunita: Your turn - I'm sure you have some gems too!

Utbtkids: In my defence, it's not commonly used.

Squiggles Mom: Well most of her nicks are used when I talk to her in Malayalam. And even I'm embarrassed to sing our song when there are others around! :-)

WIN: Yeah, I think that's what's so nice about this tag - these are things that you do forget...

Parul: Welcome, and thank you for your kind comments. 'Bundle' sounds like a bundle of fun - will hop over in a bit.

Kodi's Mom: You're right - when I read your post I thought there's no way I'm as bad, but when it all came out.... :-(

Rbdans: Now you, now you! :-)

Mnamma: Well, then at least my death would not have been in vain! ;-p

CA: Thanks! You have some great nicks too! :-)

Just Like That said...

Yup, think it would be in your better interests to take this tag down before Moppet gets her hands on it.:-D Kunjukundi!!!
But seriously, kiddy bums are so so cute, esp in those little cute undies! :-)

timepass said...

Wierd but cute nicknames..Must say u are very creative in forming new nicknames for moppet

Fuzzylogic said...

LOL at K-bob and Kunjukudi!I somehow pictured you speaking to her in the K- Bob speak and laughed out loud startling people at work:)
*wickedly picturing moppet's mom and kodi's mom running for cover by the angry and embarassed offsrpings * LOL!

Free Spirited said...

hiya....i love reading you blog! came by it through a friend's site but had to say i absolutly love it...somehow i seem to so connect with what you write about! keep writing moppet's mom..you rock!

Maggie said...

JLT: I know, I know...but what to do, I get this from my mom. She has the funniest nicks for my dad and me...

Timepass: Not particularly creative. It's just that the mommy part of my brain activates all this stupidity. I'm normally a fairly sensible person. Really.

Fuzzy: Dang! I bet you'll get hit with the tag too. Then we'll see who's running for cover :-)

Free spirited: Aww, thank you!

Mala said...

What, no Kunjumol ?? :-) I remember seeing that painted on hazaar trucks in Kerala..

Tharini said...

LOL. Thank you MM...for doing this tag in all the spirit that it was conferred upon. Bumboola and Kunjukundi....terribly funny, and terribly my fave! :)

Anonymous said...

Done ma'm