Too Many Nicknames: Response to Emily's Prompt

Looking at the four elements of intimacy I can see how they all apply to my family and how we function. However, the most profound would probably be closeness.

Closeness is a big thing in the Dooge household. My sisters are my best friends, and I would be very lost without them. My family and I are very interdependent on each other. Whatever happens to one of us, happens to all of us. Obviously the event in question affects some more than others, but the family dynamic is still affected. For example, my twin sister’s play on different basketball teams. Playing on different teams puts a bit of a strain on their relationship with each other, but it also puts a strain on the family dynamic because we have to divide and conquer their different game schedules. My sisters and I share everything with each other. I usually know more because I’m everyone’s favorite sister. Actually it is because I like to listen and am always willing to sit down with each of them and work out their problems. My mom and I are also very close. I am really bad at keeping secrets from her, something that my sisters have pointed out to me on numerous occasions.

The sisters also have our own private language in the forms of nicknames for each other. Here’s a list of some of them:

Danielle: Dilly Bill

Stephanie: Steponie, Stiffy Bear

Holly: Hill Bill

Jackie: Jickie, Jickie Bear, Peanut

Michelle: Boo Bear, Boo, Pumpkin

Out of all of us, the twins, and especially Michelle, seems to have the most nicknames. I’m not really sure why that is, probably because they are the babies of the family and they are more accepting of nicknames.

We use these nicknames all the time. So much so that I have noticed I call them by their nicknames in public and I get some confused looks. But it does not bother any of us because it is just part of our language with each other. Recently I have noticed that I only call them by their real names when talking to people outside of our family. But even then I still bring up what their nicknames are.

I think through all of this the other elements of family intimacy can be seen.

We are all committed and dedicated to each other and being a family. Before we go to bed our Mom always says “Goodnight, love you, see you in the morning.” And that’s like her thing with all of us kids before we go to bed. In fact, when we were younger, I believe it was Holly, would not go to bed unless our mom said that to her and we said it back.

We also self-disclose to one another. As I mentioned above we share our problems with each other and work through them together. Overall, we look to each other for advice.

I think the Dooge family has a very strong sense of family intimacy. There are times where it is stronger than other times, but overall it is pretty high and has not really changed for the worst, a fact I am grateful for.