Last week, the New York Times reported about a new trend of grandparents offering cash and other incentives in exchange for naming their children's new babies, including one grandparent-to-be offering $10,000 for the naming rights to their grandson. This wasn't an isolated incident, with others offering things like a stake in a family business.
I thought the idea was so absurd but maybe I was in the "minority" as I often tend to be. I decided to pose the question to my Facebook followers to gauge their radar on the subject and, lo and behold, we were all on one accord!
The best comments came from fellow grandparents like Auerlia who said, "That's just craziness if you ask me. I have 4 grands and never would never do such a thing even if I had all the money in the world. Grandparents obviously had their turn naming their own children...let the children have the same honor. #foolishnessI
From another friend, Heidi, who said, "No, No, No to cash or other rewards for naming a grandchild or anyone else's child. Only parents to name their child. Now it is ok to give ideas, share stories behind names if asked by the parents."
Another comment from Jessica, meanwhile, indicates she did suggest a name, "When my daughter was pregnant, I suggested the name Carter, just because I really liked the sound of it. After months of tossing names around in her head, my daughter did choose Carter. I didn't force it on her. She just ended up really liking my suggestion. It was kind of cool that she picked my favorite, I won't lie.
On the flip side of this you have young mothers who choose create their own names they think are unique and cute not realizing the child has to live with that name for the rest of their lives. And pity on them if they can't even spell it The sad thing in these cases is the fact that most of these mothers are "young" (and poor) and haven't taken time to consider the long term effects of their child's name. (Probably because their name is jacked up too!) Furthermore, the grandparents of these grandchildren probably can't even afford to offer any money for naming rights. Poor and Green don't mix well in our society.
So for those well-to-do-grandparents who believe money can buy anything, including naming rights to their grandchildren, GET A GRIP, try developing a REAL conscience and put your money to some quality use.
It is, however, okay for you to want to help your struggling children-------but NOT with strings attached.
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