Saturday Night Confessions

It’s confession time and I’ve been tossing ideas around like pancakes for the past couple of days!  There have been a few ideas thrown here and there and then a challenge appeared from fellow blogger, Lance, who wrote a post on confessing nick-names.  He asked us all to ‘fess up about our nick-names.  Well, who am I to refuse a challenge?

Let’s start with my nickname that I assumed was actually my real name for years, until my parents decided to inform me that it wasn’t my real name, just a nickname they called me.  The name stuck though and my gran called me this name till the day she left us.  I was given the nickname due to the fact that I was apparently very naughty when I was small and a cartoon character by the same name reminded my parents of me.  I was called Lulu!  Just to add on to that, my real name, Eloise, was given to me because my mum had a friend that committed suicide and she thought it would be a lovely way to remember her.  Nice!

My dad had a way of giving names to the pets, depending on how they behaved or if he was singing to them. Yes, he sang to our dogs and cats…and duck!  So, of course, he had to make a little name ditty for me, which I, in my wisdom shared with my class in Grade 2.  Bear in mind I was still calling myself Eloise Lulu at the time.  I thought it was a natural thing that every other family did and when our teacher asked if we had special names that our parents called us, my hand flew into the air and I desperately sat up straight, hoping to be chosen.  Her eyes fell on me and she smiled, her head nodding for me to say my nickname.

“It’s WhiskersDogShoesAmericanGoat’sEyesBootlaces Miss!”

I gave one of my Colgate megawatt smiles, feeling very proud of having the most unusual nickname.  It took a few seconds for the class to decipher what I had just said and then the laughter filled the air.  She was my favourite teacher and tried so hard not to laugh, but even she couldn’t resist a small giggle.  I learnt not to share my nicknames after that….well until now!  

I still like that nickname.

Other nicknames included Pops, Bubbles, Whiskey (given by my brother to replace Lulu!) and stopped at Mello-Elo in high school when I shared one of my poems with a friend.  The name stuck and I was referred to as Mello by most of my friends by the time I left school.  The name has stayed with me since.  I prefer it to Eloise (which I’ve never liked for reasons listed above) and find it hard to introduce myself with such an odd name.  So, if you feel the urge, call me Mello – all my friends do! 😊

Now your turn…’fess up!  What’s your nickname and why?  Don’t be shy, I’ve just shared another childhood memory with you and soon with have nothing left to confess!

Thanks again to Lance’s suggestion and blog post for my inspirational confession today!