...Money, apparently. It seems there are companies charging hundreds of dollars to parents- to-be for
name consultation!!! Parents are unable to even name their own child now! I kid you not (I couldn't
make this stuff up)! I read about this on
News of the Weird.
If you are not up the the challenge of
naming your child, what are the chances that you are going to be able to say, "No!" when he is fingerpainting on your living room wall, or help her decide how to deal with the bully who is picking on her? Parenting is a serious gig for adults who are capable of making decisions, not only for themselves, but for this new person for whom they are now responsible.
Although I am not a parent, I have been a professional daycare provider for over 20 years. I have a strong grasp of the parental role in a child's life. Every choice a parent makes for and with her child - good or bad - is an investment, emotionally and physically in the relationship. Like any investment, some are better than others, but you have to risk a loss to reap the benefits. Pawning off decisions to so-called "professionals" creates a distance between parent and child, which is evidence of a lack of commitment.
Granted, there are times in life when a parent may need to call on the expertise of a professional. I'm not saying you have to go it alone to be a committed parent. I'm just advocating the use of perspective. The article makes mention of parents' "fear of dooming their child for life by insufficiently distinguishing their kid from others." To me this seems completely convoluted. Wouldn't a parent look forward to telling a child the very personal and painstaking details of how he or she was named, and that "a numerologist told me" just makes for a really unromantic story? I can't think of a more beautiful conversation to have with a child. It is an opportunity for a child to learn about the anticipation and excitement that accompanied his or her birth.
A person's name does not define him or her, and the notion that it does is shallow and ignorant. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars having someone name your child for you, spend that money on music or art lessons to help your child discover and define his or her own uniqueness. That's how it's supposed to work.
