Woman baffled by mother-in-law’s insane ask over baby name
A woman has gone head-to-head with her mother-in-law over the name she has chosen for her unborn child.
The pregnant woman took to Reddit to share her unusual predicament, explaining how her mother-in-law has demanded she change the name of her baby.
The soon-to-be mum shared how she recently had dinner with her husband’s family, where she decided to reveal the baby’s gender and name.
She had been keeping the information secret, but with only a few weeks of her pregnancy left, she decided to share the happy news that she was having a baby boy and had chosen the name Shawn for her son.
But not everyone shared her happiness over the moniker, as her mother-in-law went pale with shock and demanded she choose a new name.
“My in-laws got quiet for a moment before asking if there were other options we'd considered. Apparently, Shawn is the name of my 17-year-old sister-in-law Ashley's former bully who tormented her [for years],” the pregnant woman explained on Reddit.
While she empathised with her in-laws, she didn’t want to change the name as it was the only one her and her husband agreed on for their son.
She also explained that she hadn’t known about the family connection when they picked the name, and hadn’t picked it out of any malicious intent.
“We took forever to pick a name,” she said. “Shawn is the only one we could agree on.”
The dinner party soon ended after the argument began, but the mother-in-law didn’t back down, sending the expecting mum demanding messages.
“She texted me and my husband again to ask us to find a new name for Ashley's sake.”
“Would I be the a**hole for not wanting to change it? We were only able to agree on it a few weeks ago.”
Commenters were torn over the subject, with many rushing to the pregnant woman’s defence, saying she can pick whatever name she wants for her son.
“My spouse and sibling have the same name. Somehow, you just compartmentalise it,” one shared.
“I feel like if a new baby in my family shared a name with my bully I'd just adapt,” another wrote. “After all, Shawn is a VERY common name, so I can't freak out every time I hear it and survive in this world.”
However, a select few sided with the mother-in-law, sharing how stunned they were that the couple couldn't find enough compassion to pick another name.
One person said, “I understand the difficulty of finding a name that feels right, but for me, after learning this, Shawn would quickly become another name that didn't work. It's only been decided on it for a few weeks so I'd just go back to the drawing board.”
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