An integral part of any family, inevitably, is some form of drama. Even close-knit family units will find something to bicker about, indeed, in some cases it’s an entire love language. But some drama is so dumb and contrived that people just had to share it online.
A woman asked the internet for advice when her sister chose the same name for her daughter and started asking her to call her own child something else. This was two full years after the birth of OP’s daughter. Bored Panda reached out to OP via Reddit and will update the article when she gets back to us.
Some parents are absolutely dead set on a particular name
Image credits: Kristina Paukshtite / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But one mother was surprised when her sister picked the exact same name as her daughter for her newborn
Image credits: MART PRODUCTION / Pexels (not the actual photo)
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Image credits: Jonathan Borba / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Names are important to many people, but there are boundaries that have to be kept
While picking a name, generally, doesn’t have the weight and importance that it once did, the sister’s decision is still deeply bizarre. After all, so many family gatherings are not going to be riddled with confusion. Even worse, just saying a name to one child or another might end up looking like a person is picking sides. Ironically, the two little girls involved are likely to be completely ignorant of the entire ordeal until they are much older. Perhaps for the best.
The sister’s suggestion to use the middle name is strange from two perspectives. Firstly, she is in no position to be making these sorts of demands. OP has had a kid for two whole years already, and the sister at no point tried to make any sort of claims, so why she thinks she can pull this sort of stunt now is anyone’s guess. Normally, naming drama happens before the child is even born, but in this case, all the issues could have been avoided if the sister simply made better decisions.
Middle names, traditionally, exist to attempt to preserve pre-marital or maiden names. It’s not unreasonable to perhaps use them in some cases, indeed, some people prefer to be called by their maiden name. However, a two-year-old being pressured into it by a strangely entitled aunt is not the same as a teen taking some first steps towards establishing their own identity and independence.
Image credits: Liza Summer / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The sister’s demands are completely out of touch
Truthfully, people in drama-prone families know very well about what to tell their relatives and what to just keep to themselves. However, in OP’s case, it seems to just be this particular sister who is stirring the pot. It’s not unreasonable to like a name for your child and to go against all wisdom and just pick the same one. Perhaps she was even inspired by OP’s choice. But to then, having never attempted to claim it, demand that her preferences be respected is just out of touch.
Then again, family drama always comes with its own amount of entitlement and strange demands. Family relationships are special, but, in the wrong circumstances, people can start to truly believe that they are entitled to something. Resentment, jealousy, and weird, self-contained rules are all part of this issue, even if it primarily exists just in the sister’s head. Fortunately, for OP, her family appears to mostly be on her side as well.
It’s interesting that OP still decided to poll the internet, as this does seem to be an open-and-shut case. Most readers wholeheartedly sided with her, as the sister simply does not have a leg to stand on. Of course, this doesn’t actually mean that she is going to see it that way, but all in all, at some point, the sister will have to give in or end up cutting contact with her family, as they are not going to just comply with her demands.
Reader’s called out the sister’s behavior
