Happy Spring, Little Lamb

Here's the Spring version of my cloche'.

My Mother always called me her "lamb." My brother was her "lamb's tail." It was no offense to him, that's just the way it worked out.  Brother just rolled with it.

Southern Mothers love to use nicknames for their offspring that none of their friends would ever use. All the boys may call him "Stinky," but to his Mama, he's "Boo Bear."

There seem to be certain categories of names from which all Southern Mothers tend to dip.  The food category includes, "Sugar," "Cupcake," and the obvious "Honey" or "Sugar Pie."  General produce slips in with "Peanut" and "Pumpkin."  I've never heard of a "Collard," but I'm sure he's out there somewhere.

Another category is insects. You know,  like "Ladybug," "Doodlebug," "Beetle Bug," and "June Bug."  "Cockroach" is usually reserved for the boys in the outfield, not a Mother. My dog was "Cricket," but so was my babysitter when her Mama was in the room.

Remember when your Mom had to drop you off at school and you were petrified she would call out, "Love you, Monkey Doodle!"  Teenagers make quicker than lightning exits in the carpool lines at schools for this very reason. 

I usually go with "darlin" for one child and "sweetie," for the other, but somehow "sweetie" often morphs into "sweet potato" and sounds more like "sweepuhtaytuh."  

But he knows I'm talking to him, and that's all that matters. 

At a gangly 6'2", he's still my Sweet Potato — Lamb.

You can see this and other Spring ideas at Beyond the Picket Fence, From My Front Porch to Yours, Happy Go Lucky , Penny's Treasures, Funny Postpartum Lady, The Chicken and the Chick, My Turn for Us , French Country Cottage, Stacey Embracing Change, The Girl Inspired, The Charm of Home , Mockingbird Hill Cottage , Six Sisters and Tilly's Nest.