Name Game

The topic of "names" is always entertaining and most usually has me laughing so hard I almost pee my pants.  Ok, so maybe that was too much information, or TMI for the younger generations.  In fact, within the last few weeks, two of my friends have posted on their blogs about their adventures with their names.  I even got name-dropped here, so I thought I would join in the Name Game and also poke a little fun at my name and share some of my own adventures.

We all know those people who have a name that makes you chuckle just saying it.  My name would be one of those. But let's be clear, it's my married name.  No, my parents didn't hate me that much.  Thankfully.

Heather Ledbetter
Not so hard to say slowly, but if you speed it up, your tongue could end up twisted.  Not to mention that it also has a slight rhyming factor to it. 

But let's be honest, my maiden name wasn't always a joy to deal with either.  Actually, it's probably worse depending on how you look at it, because no one or their mother knew how to spell or pronounce it.   At least people don't have a hard time figuring out how to say Ledbetter.  Kautz on the other hand, is definitely a doozy.

Since the day I started school, it was a given that the poor teacher would butcher my last name and usually take about a month to really get it straight.  Honestly, I may have had a few teachers in high school and college that never truly figured it out.  Probably because at a certain point in my life I just got tired of correcting people, and decided to start answering "yes", even when my name was pronounced Kurtz, or Katz, or Krautz, or Klutz.  Yes, Klutz.  Kind of fits perfectly with my coordination skills now a days.  But back then, I sort of took it as an insult.

And where these people were getting an "R" is beyond me.  Pretty sure the letter R has never been and will never be in the name Kautz.  I like how people just insert random letters into names - like they should be there.

But that was then, and this is now, and my name is now legally Heather Ledbetter - for better or for worse.  I really don't ever foresee problems for myself, but my poor future children.  As my friend pointed out in her blog post, they are forever going to be called "Bedwetters".  Matt got it as a child, and I know ours will too. Not sure where kids come up with these nicknames.  I guess I was never that creative, or mean. No one could ever come up with a stupid nickname for Kautz, but I would have given them credit if they could.  So instead, they all just made fun of my height, or lack there of. Children sure are a joy sometimes.

Did this bring up any "name game" past memories for any of you?  I know it probably does for my mom - Cindy Push Us!  Cindy Pusch Us!  Ha-ha!  Love you Mom!