William Shakespeare probably had no idea that his famous Romeo and Juliet line, “What’s in a name?” would be so ubiquitous or so highly debated.
Redditor Antique_Ad5524’s recent actions show her vehement disagreement with Juliet’s speech.
For the Original Poster (OP), a rose by any other name would not smell as sweet, but in the OP’s case the rose is a baby. More specifically, her son.
The OP’s sister-in-law and other family members recently met the baby for the first time. SIL repeatedly called the newborn by the wrong name, slowly driving the OP crazy.
Finally, the OP snapped and told her SIL that she needed to call him by the correct name.
This ended up causing quite a bit of tension amongst the family, eventually driving the OP to subReddit “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA).
She asked:
“AITA for snapping at my SIL after she called my son by the wrong name?”
She went on to explain:
“My [25-year-old Female] husband [25-year-old Male] and I welcomed a baby boy, and we are absolutely thrilled to have him in our lives.”
“In the name of our son, my in-laws held a small gathering with the immediate family. This was also the first time for many of them to meet our son, especially the children.”
“We had a great time with our family, and it would have been better if it weren’t for my SIL (husband’s sister), who kept calling our son by the wrong name.”
“You see, their cousin also had a baby boy, who is two months older than our son, and SIL kept confusing his name with ours.”
“IMO, I think she simply forgets her nephew’s name. In our three-day stay at their parents’ house, she regularly called him by the wrong name.”
“My husband and the rest of the family were only amused by it, and would constantly remind her. So did I, but I reached the point where it pissed me off.”
“When she called him by the wrong name again, I snapped. I told her that whoever she’s calling is not here, and if she had paid attention, maybe she would notice that this is a different baby.”
“After an awkward silence, she apologized and assured me that it wouldn’t happen again. But the rest of the stay went by awkwardly.”
“After returning, my husband told me that it was unwarranted, and I was mean to his sister for an honest mistake.”
“Since I knew that she struggled with people’s names, I should have given her some time. He did ask me to apologize to SIL, and I will.”
“But, still, AITA here?”
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided:
“YTA, but only because she was doing it accidentally. Mistakes happen and she apologized.”
“The running joke in our house was the number of times our poor frazzled mom called my dad, brother and dog by the wrong name – lesson learned by using the same first letters for names.”
“Not close in age or species but just…half thinking. Didn’t mean she wasn’t full of love, just a little scattered.”
“I’d imagine you’re also a bit tired and full of hormones so I want to forgive your overreaction, but it’s not a free pass for all poor behavior.”
“Edit: These comments are all so amazing and sweet. Loving hearing about the other family word jumbles!” – Major_Barnacle_2212
“YTA. From what you’ve written, this was not intentional. There’s two new babies in her life, and they have very close names.”
“It’s hard to fully judge without knowing the names. But regardless, you snapped at her despite your own apparent belief that it was a mistake.” – ironchef8000
“YTA. You’re talking about a baby she’s just met. Her brain hasn’t had time to create a lot of muscle memory with the name yet. Some people are just better with names than others.”
“The joke at my grandma’s was that when she called my uncle’s gf by the wrong name, that meant the gf was family. Because with 7 kids, my Grandma got her own kids’ names wrong plenty lol.”
“My mom also talks about how when she had my brother (the oldest), she kept calling him by the dog’s name because prior to that, she was used to talking to the dog.”
“Then when I was born, she kept calling me by my brother’s name because that’s what she was used to saying before I came along.”
“You’re taking this personally as if she’s doing it because she gets off on disrespecting you.”
“If she regularly looks for ways to push buttons with you and this is just one more round on that, then ok. Otherwise, call and apologize.” – ferniefrijole
“Yes, YTA”
“Your reaction was unwarranted and over the top. You made things so awkward for everybody.”
“She already has a history of having trouble with names, but you still go off on her for an honest mistake.”
“Your baby was just born, and you’ve already managed to partially alienate it from its aunt.”
“Your little outburst will be remembered, and possibly in such a way they try and limit their exposure to you, and by default her nephew.” – BulbasaurRanch
“YTA. It wasn’t hurting your son. He doesn’t care. There was no need to behave like that.” – PoppyStaff
“YTA- Sounds like OP was more angry that the other baby’s name got “more attention” than her new baby. GROW THE F*CK UP.” – Throw_away_110179
“YTA. It was a simple mistake. You see that your family isn’t bothered by it. It happens to a lot of people.”
“As an older brother, there’s times where I accidently switch my brother and sister’s name, and they’re both fine with it. Hell, it’s even funny in some cases.”
“So imo, you snapping out was a SEVERE overreaction. So imo, yes, YTA.” – Lechonkersgobonkers
“YTA, That vitriol was unnecessary; it’s an honest mix-up, not like she was trying to disrespect your baby by calling him the wrong name.” – DueCherry2134
“YTA, even according to you, she’s not doing it on purpose.”
“I understand your kid is your world, but she literally just had two nephews born, and one of them has been here a little longer, so that name is more ingrained in her brain.” – keesouth
“if your husband knew she had trouble remembering names, so did you. prior to this. convenient to leave that out until the end.”
“she’s probably already self conscious about it and you embarrassed her in front of everyone. and guess what, ur baby didn’t know the d*mn difference.”
“not like it’s a kid that says their feelings are hurt by something like that. YTA. like a thousand times over” – Rare-Pineapple2093
“I hope you get a chance to read this comment.”
“I think that you didn’t handle the situation the best but I don’t think you’re the a**hole.”
“Maybe it was a mistake but as an auntie myself I couldn’t imagine a whole weekend where I called my nephew the wrong name.”
“Seems like this is something she has a problem with – and it seems like it’s something she knows she has a problem with- so she should work on it.”
“She could have written your son’s name on her hand or had it as her Lock Screen. Because, though it might have been a mistake, you probably feel like she doesn’t care about your son.”
“And you blew up – well.. you’re also a new mom with little sleep and raging hormones. Everyone in the family – especially any mothers should see this.”
“Though I don’t think you’re the a**hole, I think you should talk to her and mend that bridge. Tell her why it was upsetting you.”
“Good luck.” – Oxywine
“Gosh… Yea YTA you didn’t need to snap. It sounds like a simple mistake. Me? I’m terrible with names but amazing with faces…like if I’ve seen you once I won’t ever forget the face.”
“But ask me literally 5 minutes later your name? I’d be remiss if I didn’t say I’d likely forget despite being reminded or introduced numerous times. It’s just a thing. “
“Heck, I’ve got twins…you think I, Personally as the parent, haven’t messed that up before??! Especially if the name she was saying is relatively similar to your child’s name here, it happens!”
“Nothing nefarious here by the way you described it happened. Should she take more care to remember the name?”
“Yes…but yes absolutely YTA for snapping like that over a name.” – Inner_Grab_7033
“I’m going against the grain, NTA.”
“It was a 3-day weekend and she couldn’t remember the name after multiple corrections?”
“Is she 5? Have some sort of intellectual disability?”
“Does everyone else tolerate her calling them by an incorrect name for 3 days? I bet they don’t and since that person can correct her, she gets it.” – Tesstarosa13
“NTA , in my opinion. Once, twice, maybe even three times, might be an innocent mistake. But multiple times, to me, is deliberate.”
“The fact that the rest of your husband’s family found it ‘amusing’ makes me think she thought she was being funny.”
“Also, the fact that after you snapped at her, she was suddenly able to remember your son’s name supports that it was deliberate.” – bookworm-1960
Being a new mom is tough…
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.