The Blog
Two kinds of writing: how to actually decide, and what the records show once you look at them.
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Pregnancy Why Your Due Date Is a Guess, Not a Deadline One date, printed on everything, treated as a fact. Where it comes from, how wide the real spread is, and why your French cousin is counting to a different number. -
Pregnancy The Shortlist Feels Different Once It's Real You had five names you loved. Now there is movement, and only one of them still fits. Why the list shrinks on its own, and why that is not indecision. -
Pregnancy Telling People the Name Before the Birth Announcing the pregnancy and announcing the name are two different decisions, and the second one is the one that invites opinions you cannot un-hear. -
Pregnancy Second-Guessing the Name Mid-Pregnancy You decided weeks ago and now you are awake at three in the morning wondering if you got it wrong. How common that is, and how to tell nerves from a genuine mismatch. -
The Two of You When One of You Settled on the Name You gave in to keep the peace, and now there is a flicker of something every time you say it. How to deal with that before it attaches itself to the child. -
The First Weeks When the Baby Books Contradict Each Other One source says six months, another says twelve. Both are trustworthy. Why respected health bodies genuinely disagree, and how to tell a real conflict from a wording difference. -
The First Weeks What "Trust Your Instincts" Actually Means Everyone says it and nobody explains it. What instinct is genuinely good at, what it is useless for, and how to tell the difference at four in the morning. -
The First Weeks The Witching Hour: When Crying Peaks Hours of crying every evening, nothing works, and a creeping certainty that it is your fault. The pattern is documented, it has a shape, and it ends. -
The First Weeks When Relatives Still Criticize the Name The baby is here, the name is registered, and someone is still telling you they would have picked differently. Why it stings more now, and how to close it. -
The Two of You Handling a Grandparent's Naming Veto "That's not a real name." A relative has rejected your choice outright and expects it to change. What to do, and how to stay a team while doing it. -
Toddler Years When the Nickname Eats the Real Name You chose Eleanor. Everyone, including you, says Nell. Whether the name you picked has been wasted, and whether it is worth steering back. -
Toddler Years When Your Toddler Asks What Their Name Means "Why am I called this?" You freeze. What to say when the name has a meaning, what to say when it has none, and why they are asking now.