Thursday, November 13, 2008

Next Thing You Know He's Going to Want to Shave

Bubba is growing up. I mean, of course he is. But lately, there have been some definite signs that things are changing.

First there was the kissing. Or the lack thereof, to be precise. One day, out of the blue, Bubba declared that he would give only hugs, no kisses. Whenever we greeted or departed from family members, he'd move in for his hugs loudly declaring "Just hugs, no kisses!"

Even me, his mama, got this treatment, but I played my trump card and told him "I'm your mama. I'm ALWAYS going to kiss you. Deal with it."

And then there was the other kissing. With girls. Or actually, again, the lack thereof. All of a sudden he's coming home from school talking about kissing games that are being played. The girls are chasing the boys and if they catch you, you have to kiss them. Upon recounting the rules, Bubba looks absolutely horrified and disgusted. But you can kind of tell there's just the teensiest bit of interest underneath the indignation.

And just last week, the biggest sign of all. Bubba no longer wants to be called Bubba. It's too baby-ish. And I can't tell you how sad this makes me. Which is really ironic because if you had told me six years ago that I would ever be calling a child of mine Bubba (and we really do call him that), I would have told you you were out of your everlovin' mind.

I used to be supersensitve about southern stereotypes and unfortunately, the name Bubba has been appropriated by the media to represent all that's ignorant, backwards, and uneducated about the south. Which is truly unfortunate because the name Bubba is really just another pronunciation for the word brother. In the old days in the south, siblings often called each other "Brother" or "Sister." In fact, my OWN brother almost always calls me Sister.

And even though we were actually calling Bubba Bubba before Punkin was even a twinkle in her daddy's eye, I love it that Punkin has been calling him Bubba since she started talking.

But ever the little acolyte, Punkin is already bending to Bubba's decree. She'll call him Bubba and then catch herself and then call him by his real name. At first I felt like using my "Mama Privleges" to continue to call him Bubba, but then I realized that I need to try to honor his wishes.

But it's a hard habit to break.

15 comments:

AndreAnna said...

I say start calling him Cletus and soon he'll want to be Bubba again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx said...

Andreanna--That's hilarious!

for a different kind of girl said...

Oh, the loss of kissing rights. How well I know them! I do a lot of bartering for some kisses!

I call my 6 year old by so many nicknames that I often wonder if he even knows what is real name is! I asked him recently if he minded, and he said no, then went back to playing with his action figures. If (when) the day comes he doesn't respond to the myriad names we have for him, I know I'll be in tears!

calicobebop said...

No more kisses! The Horror!! I'm glad you invoked your Mama Rights. My older siblings didn't want to give up their "baby nicknames" until highschool. Kids grow up too fast these days. :(

Anonymous said...

It's too bad the little ones grow out of their nicknames. I called my goddaughter Peanut until about a year ago when she was all "I'm not a peanut." So I stopped.

He'll always be Bubba in you heart. And when he brings his girlfriends over you can show off pictures of your little Bubba and embarass him. Mom privelages and all that. :)

Laurel said...

Logan did the same thing with her nickname, which was Bug. "I'm not a bug!!" she would cry. It didn't last long, though. We honored her request to stop, but we also told her how and why her daddy started calling her that and how it was a sign of love. Then on this birthday when her daddy brought her roses she said, "I know the card is going to say bug." She was a little disappointed when it did not. Sometimes you just can't win!

I'm with andreanna. Cletus is a good name! :0)

By the way, I have a brother that calls me "sis" too. It must have been the two years he spent in Texas!

Angie McCullagh said...

Andreanna! Haha.

I totally thought Bubba was just a moniker. So cute that it's his "real" name.

Anonymous said...

Oh no! My heart is breaking for you just a lil' bit. Gracie went through a phase when she wouldn't let me give her a piggy-back to bed any more. She told me she was too big to be carried. Sob!

But she still lets me call her Gracie, so I'll count my blessings!

Hopefully Bubba is just going through a phase. If not, you DO get Mama privileges. :)

Debbie said...

I wouldn't give up the kisses for all the money in the world. Now, I can kinda see the Bubba thing - and this is coming from another southern gal.

Anonymous said...

I call mine Bubba, too. I'm sorry he's growing up on you. I hate it when they go & do that.

HalfAsstic.com said...

My girls call each other "sister" all the time and they are 17 and 19. They have been doing this all their lives and nobody "taught" them to.
Wonder why. Texas? Maybe!

KG said...

I say call him "Bubba" and tell him to deal with it! Bubba is a totally hawt name.

Anonymous said...

Ah, i remember chasing the boys on the playground in kindergarten.

The Panic Room said...

I took my step-son to the park last night and witnessed an older boy forcing another little boy and girl to kiss. He was forcing their heads together and saying "Come on, get it over with" and then she finally closes her eyes and kisses him... and he says "What the F was that?" he high fives the older boy and then he spits on the girl and they ran.

How is that for your first kiss?

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Growing up, getting older, goodbye innocence.

Wineplz said...

I had no idea you actually call him Bubba. Or did...I guess you still will here since that's his secret code name. ;)
We used to call Gavin "Peanut" but when he was about 18 months we realized he stopped responding to Gavin and only to Peanut...so we dropped the nickname. Eventually we started calling him "Buddy" and it stuck without replacing his name. When Cooper was born he was just so big and pudgy and cute but I realized that "Buddy" was taken and "Peanut" wouldn't work for this hoss of a child. So I've been calling him Bubba...seemed more applicable. :) I figured that also cemented in my role as a Southern Mama to have my own Bubba.