Coopy the Turtle

A few months ago, Deuce "officially" changed his name to "Coopy". No, he doesn't play with any kids named Cooper or saw it on TV. He chose to name himself "Coopy the turtle" because that is what he wanted to do and when a four year old sets his mind to something...well, you know the drift.

At first it was kind of funny. We'd all joke and laugh about "Coopy" doing this funny little thing or he'd be curled up in a ball and say he was in his "Coopy shell". Surprisingly, it took a few weeks before any children bellowed that Coopy rhymes with poopy, even though Cameron pointed it out immediately. (And I am thankful for his immediate grasp of the childhood taunts as this saves me from explaining my own behavior...) Heh.

Recently, "Coopy" has turned into "Coopster" or just simply "Coop". It has become so common that he responds to it now and we interchange it with his real name at will. However, we hadn't taken it publicly (IE: outside of our circle of friends and family) until last week. I took the boys to karate and this lesson was on confidence and respect. When the children came up to introduce themselves with the adults, Deuce was introducing himself as "Coopy". I paused, and looked at him and said, "Dude. You're name isn't Coopy."

Deuce: "Yes it is, mom. My name is Coopy."

Me: "No, that's your nickname."

Deuce: "No, mom. *sigh* My name is COOPY."

Bonus: "No, mom. His name is COOPY."

At this point, I was tempted to whisper, loudly enough for the other adults to hear me, "No, boys, remember what the policeman said? Your OLD name was Coopy," and then rush them out the door before the confusion wore off. But realizing that I had spent too much on this sport to never return, I sheepishly smiled at both of my sons, shrugged my shoulders at the confused adults and silently vowed to spend the next class waiting for them at the brewery next door.

On a positive note, Bonus told Dorkfish last week that he likes it when we call Deuce "Coopy". When Dorkfish asked why, Bonus said, "Because it's cute and makes me want to hit him less."

Yeah...I know.