Jack, no George, no Frederick, no Sue, no...

I took the day off today and spent the whole day with Allison. Around lunchtime we went down to visit Lauren at the birth center. On Thursdays they have a sort of "Mommy-and-Me" get together and the place was filled with moms and their babies. While we all sat around talking, there was one mom there who had just had her baby about two weeks earlier. And apparently, she still hadn't named him yet. The kid is two weeks old and still has no name!

This is hardly an unusual occurrence. In her years as a labor-delivery nurse, and now as a midwife, Lauren has come across I'd say at least a dozen couples who, by the time they leave the hospital, or even by the time they come in for their TWO WEEK checkup, still haven't been able to come up with or agree on a name. How does that happen? Seriously, how? Believe me, I understand the dilemma that comes with picking out baby names. Lauren and I started brainstorming names before we were even married. It took forever to agree on one we both liked. But even then, that wasn't the end of it. A lot of times, I'd be crazy about a name which Lauren was opposed to. After months of bringing the name back up again, she would finally start to come around to liking it... right about the time I decided, you know what, that's actually kind of a dumb name. Boys names were (are) the worst. We've got all our girls names picked out one after the other until one of us goes either barren or senile. But after nearly 6 years of discussions, we still haven't found a single boys name that we both liked consistently, and at the same time, for more than a month or two.

So yes, I get the hardship that comes with picking out your kids' names. After all, this is a decision that will be with them for their entire lives. But to not have a name picked out by the time your kid is born, much less two weeks AFTERWARD! It's not like it was a surprise that the kid was coming and would need a name. I mean, you had at least... let's say seven months from the point when you first figured out you were pregnant. You're telling me in all that time you didn't spend a little time thinking about what you might name this kid? That's kind of like putting off writing your doctoral dissertation until the night before it's due isn't it? Or really, it's like handing it in TWO WEEKS LATE.

So as of now, this poor kid still doesn't have a name. What do you call a kid - your kid - for two weeks if you haven't named him. The birth certificate and hospital papers can just say "Baby Boy" but geez, can two parents coo that informally over their own son?

Can somebody who has gone through this little dilemma personally please explain it all to me? Because I just don't get it.