What's in a Name?

Late last year I was driving somewhere with the kids I cannot recall the destination. Thomas sits in the front passenger seat and so he and I chat happily wherever we go. Anyhow this particular day he was confused as to how he had 2 Grandad's. So I tried to differentiate by using surnames. I explained he had Grandad Siswick and Grandad Fred (which isn't his surname at all but his first name) he seemed intrigued by this so I thought I'd take advantage and turn it into a special teaching moment about names.

I decided to do the Siswick side because frankly there are a gazillion of them so it made the task easier and provided consistency. I explained that Grandma's name is Grandma Siswick, Aunt Emma's name is Emma Siswick, Uncle Tom's name is Thomas Siswick (which you'd imagine would be a total giveaway). Anyhow I went through all the family members that have Siswick as a surname. Considering Rob's dad is one of 8 Siswicks and Rob is one of 6 you can imagine this was a lengthy task but I was dedicated to teaching my 2 year old about names so I didn't mind. I finished up with Mummy, Daddy and Eli Siswick.

The conversation ended like this:

Me: "Do you know what your name is?"

Thomas: "Yes!"

Me: "Clever boy Thomas, do you want to tell me?" (At this point bursting with glee that we'd just had a wonderful learning experience)

Thomas "OK"

Me: "Go on then, what's your name?"

Thomas: "Thomas.............the tank engine"

Clearly 10 minutes of explaining names can't compete with Thomas the tank engine. Thankfully now a few months on he knows he is Thomas Siswick, but when you ask him where he lives he simply replies "At my house!" despite numerous attempts to teach him our address. Oh well I guess he'll have grasped it in 3 months when I'm trying ot teach him something else.