In my last post I had the brainstorm that I would ask my kids to choose their own names for this site. Genius, right? What a chance to name yourself over again!

Backstory- My father named me Roxanne when I was born. Since my mother named my sister, he was up to bat so to speak and he nailed it. He absolutely loved the name Roxanne. However, when my mother recovered fromthe coma she was put under to birth me (I’ve heard the story so many… many times) she recoiled at the name as if my father had lovingly named his new baby girl Froggy. To this day I think my mom cunningly used her delicate state to convince my father that the world would surely call me the name of a popular squirrel. Considering Rocky is far from the glitzy Roxy my father had in mind, he gave in and changed my name. (You can tell I still have issues thoughI’ve only known three Jennifers. Three with my exact name that is- first, middle and last!)

No, when thinking of the blog names for the kids, I felt certain I would ask them to choose their new blog names at breakfast & they would provide me their long, lost favorite name and be healed. Voila!

Imagine my surprise when they carelessly threw out Bellatrix and Oliver Boliver Butt as their names. I mean they took all of 3 seconds. They didn’t even swallow their mouthful of oatmeal as they quickly replied. Had these been the names they longed for? Furrowed brows hung low in my eyesight when I laboriously explained that these would be their forever blog names. No switcheroo here. Now this will give me the juice. Bring the real names! Nope, same thing- Bellatrix, evil nemesis of Harry Potter and special friend of the Dark Lord himself, and Oliver Boliver Butt, a suggested name for one of the Daves in a Dr. Seuss book.

After much discussion, it dawned on me. My daughter had just chosen her name this summer when she transitioned into living as a girl. She got the chance I always searched for and hand-picked a name that gave her all of the confidence and love she has inside. Something that is so completely a reflection of her inside that I had to smile.

My son is a different story. Being 3 he still hasn’t a clue exactly what Mommy does when she is on the computer. Last week he handed me another paintingof his entitled “One of Your Mom’s Blogs”. Nice. I can’t blame him for the quick answer and I actually appreciate his choice.

When breakfast was finished I contemplated how funny it was. The possibility of renaming yourself wasjust something that I held close to my heart. And although I couldn’t possibly think of giving my kids new faux names when I started the day, the names I would choose dawned on me as clear as the morning sun- Hope & Will.

Hope for the promise of positive change and Will for the sheer determination and power within each of us (and some a little more than others, if you get my drift… So there are my children- Hope & Will.