World Citizen Wednesdays #15: Pet Names

Welcome to World Citizen Wednesday!

Each week we pose a question to members of the fabulous Multicultural Kid Blogs group and share their answers here.

To find out more about these amazing bloggers, check out the Multicultural Kid Blogs Facebook page. And watch for our group website, coming soon!

This week we ask:

What are your favorite pet names for your kids?

Alyson of World Travel Family: We have Boo, because his bear was Blue Bear that became Boo Bear and he was just Boo. Ties in with Monsters Inc, too.. He still loves his bear and so do I. And then there is D, first letter of his name. I don’t know why, really, it just is. Dad was Big D, he was little D. For the blog I like to keep them a bit anonymous, so it’s Boo and D. Plus there is pumpkin, honey, sausage, my love, pumpkin pie, snuggle bunny. Whatever! Also Cariad, my love in Welsh, all 3 of my boys get that when they’re having a ” cwtch”.

Olga of The European Mama: żaba, Polish for “little frog.” Also “kochanie”- darling and słoneczko- little sunshine! I also give my children a lot of animal names: “rybka”-litttle fish”, “”kurczaczek”-little chicken…or at least my now 3 year old looked like a little chicken on her 20 weeks scan.  My husband says: “Mäuschen”, little mouse!

Lynn of Nomad Parents: Munchkin Punchkin, Stinkerbutt, Kiddo

Aisha of Hartlyn Kids: We call my daughter Mushroom. When she was little she used to wear a hat that made her look JUST like one of the mushroom characters from Super Mario Bros. She loves the name strange enough.

Frances of Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes: In Spanish, “Papi” (Puerto Rican women tend to refer to all the men in their lives “Papi” although it means Dad, we call our children, nephews, hubbies “Papi” it’s like a sweet pet name, everyone is Papi! LOL), also “Lindo de Mami” (Mommy’s cuteness), “Principe de Mami” (Mommy’s prince), and in English munchkin, little one, angel, or prince.

Kristen of Toddling in the Fast Lane: Canales Chiquis, Piquis, Baby, Mami (like Frances said, it’s Mami for girls and Papi for boys).

Becky of Kid World Citizen: Tonito we call Toto, Vivi we called Squirty or Squirtle, Maya is Maya-boo, Ricky we call Hurricane (is that terrible?)  Of course I call all of them mi amor, mi vida, chiquito/a, muñeca/o…

Valerie of Glittering Muffins: All french ones: Coco (a name kids call an egg), mon p’tit homme (my little man), bébé (baby).

Annabelle of the piri-piri lexicon: Cutie, Pepette (English and French)

Varya of Little Artists: English: Sweetie, Sweetheart, Monkey, Shmoots, Froggy; Russian: Sladkiy (Sweetie), Zolotoi (Golden), Kukolka (Doll), Obezyanka (Monkey); Swahili: Mutoto (child); Farsi: joon, joonam, aziz (all mean dear or dear one)

Carrie of Crafty Moms Share: I call my daughter chickadee, honey bunny, honey.

Jennifer of The Good Long Road: Wild Thing and Caterpillar is what I call them on my blog based on their favorite books. We also have Skeegee and Beederman (adjusted from their names or initials) and Tubby (in reference to the 18 month old always having a cute pot belly)

Christi of Learning to Be the Light: Munchkinita ~ it’s stuck from day one and I almost named my blog after her nickname

Jody of Mud Hut Mama: My oldest is Boo, Boobaloops and Little, My youngest is Kooks, Kuku and the Littlest Little. Together they are the Littles.

Amanda of Miss Panda Chinese: My old one is Ge ge (big brother), the young one is Mei mei (little sister). When there were younger we called the brother, Pi pi (naughty) and the sister, Le le (happy).

Cordelia of Multilingual Mama: Pea only for eldest. both get the following: Cherie, Bijoux, booboo, choux, querida, poulette. My eldest however usually requests that I call her doggy or floppy which is her alter ego dog name.

And us?  I tend to call my boys Monkey (obviously), Muffin, Papa, or Punky (from Punkin).

Thanks to all the bloggers who shared their answers here! You can read answers to earlier questions in our previous installments of World Citizen Wednesday, including tips for traveling with kids!

Find out more about these wonderful bloggers by visiting our Facebook page, subscribing to our Facebook feed, following us on Twitter, or following our group Pinterest board! On Twitter, you can also find us by using the hashtag #multiculturalkids. And watch for our very own website, coming soon!