Lydia Beatrice

This is the latest name for my first daughter, who has yet to be conceived. One of my Valentine's Day presents was the centennial anniversary edition of the complete tales of Beatrix Potter, and while I'm not crazy about having the letter X in my child's name, a prettier version is Beatrice, though Luke and I both agree that it's much better as a middle name than a first. (Well, Luke thinks so, and I'm reasonable enough to see he may be right. Plus, I'm not crazy about the possibility of "Bea" as a nickname. But I digress.) Lydia comes from a book I read when I was little, about a rich girl who bestows that name upon a porcelain doll she received from her grandmother, a name I then used for the first porcelain doll I received from MY grandmother. (I swear, once they were all the rage.) She lived a long and happy life until I brought her to college and my sister Samantha accidentally dropped her off my bed. So. Lydia Beatrice. Yeah.

Once she does materialize, how on earth will we pay for her? In between car payments, student loans, a mortgage, utilities, short-term savings, IRAs, 401ks, emergency funds, grocery bills, and if The Powers That Be see fit, a road trip or two?

Maybe I'm freaking out because nobody's responded to my resumes - all two of them. Maybe because I just received my first Cobalt payment that's 60 dollars more than the one for the Cavalier. Maybe because I see Samantha and her fiancé worrying about the exact same things as they plan their own future together, which officially begins next July.

I normally don't get caught up in things like this. I look at how my parents scrimped and saved and had five(!) children in between. They didn't worry about eating out or taking vacations. They didn't care about the year their car was manufactured in or whether or not they could afford name-brand groceries. I remember that, and I think, Of course it can be done. There's always a way.

Sigh.

I think I have properly regained control of my senses. A normal woman might worry that her boyfriend will read an entry like this and take it as some sort of hint. But not mine. He knows I'm a loon. He also knows I'm not getting any younger. Not that anyone's counting.

P.S. If anyone in my circle produces a princess named Lydia Beatrice, there will be blood. I've already lost Elaine.

Comments

[Anonymous]

Nice name, great initials.

[Anonymous]

That is a terrible thing to do to a child! The first name is really nice but the middle name is horrible. I'm sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous Number Two's actual name must be Beatrice Beatrice. People tend not to like their own name even lovely names like Beatrice.

[Anonymous]

I think a nice name like Molly or Ruthie would be really really nice. Some of the nicest people I know are named this.

[Anonymous]

Lemony Snicket believes that Beatrice is the best name ever.

[Valerie - Riding Solo]

There is a song about "Lydia the tattooed Lady" in a Marx Brothers movie, do be careful.