My Muggie

Did your parents have a nickname for you when you were growing up? My parents called my sister "Spike" or "Spikey" because she was a tough as nails type of kid. My brother was affectionately known as "The Bugger"--as in stop bugging her! Me, I was the "Pumpkin." Parents come up with cool nicknames for their kids. Some are embarrassing, some are really cute, some defy explanation. Such as Grace's nickname. . .

We do this thing where we rub our noses together and say "mugga, mugga, mugga." Somewhere along the way, I came to using a derivation of this for Grace. She's my "Muggie." I'm not quite sure how to spell it but you don't pronounce it like "buggy." It's more like "Muhgie" if that makes sense. Maybe a cross between "moo" and "bug." Anyways, she's my little Muggie. I have many different variations of the name for her. My favorite is little Muggie. But it can also be a noun as in "You're being a little mug!" if she's being a pip that day. When I yell at her "Get back here you little mug, she takes off screeching with me in hot pursuit." My husband likes to tease her when she's being particularly ridiculous by asking if she's from "East Mugastan." The "Muggie" thing has even evolved into a song. Sometimes Grace gets very sad when it's diaper changing time so I made up a little song for her at the end to bring her out of her blues. I pop her up on the changing table and sing "We do the changing table boogie because you're my little Muggie. . . She's my little Muggie oh yeah. . . ." She LOVES the song. She bounces in anticipation of the song's beginning and when I sing she's a tap dancing fool. It usually ends with her throwing herself into my arms which is simply the best.

Now I know the nickname is kind of odd. The few times I've used it in public people have raised an eyebrow. Since it does defy simple explanation, I usually save it for home use. Interestingly, Grace responds to "Muggie" just as she does to "Grace." No confusion with the name thing. At some point I'm sure she'll want me to stop calling her that "weird" name but I don't think I will. One, because mom's are supposed to be embarrassing and really annoying. Two, it's become such a part of who she is, I can't imagine not calling her that--no matter how big she is.