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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

She stole my name!

293 replies

tepidtulip · 22/01/2017 17:05

Ok so I have name changed for this as this is probably going to be very identifying and I don't fancy people working out who am I am then finding all my previous posts. Mainly all the disgusting things I recently admitted to!

I'm pregnant and due February 22nd(!!!). My hormones are all over the place so I really don't know whether I'm over reacting or not. It took me a long time to get pregnant and during this time many of my friends had children and I was genuinely so pleased for them but also (only in private, I hope) incredibly jealous. I say this because I feel like I understand what it's like to want children and not currently have them and therefore I have tried to stay calm.

My DHs sister (my SIL) is in her late 40s and single, having broken up with a long term partner a couple of years ago. After the break-up things were understandably very difficult for her and she moved back in with my ILs. A few weeks ago we asked me what names we were thinking of for our baby as she wanted to do some embroidery and I (stupidly) told her we'd decided on Toby.

Last week I popped over to the ILs and SIL has got a new puppy that she is currently referring to as 'her baby' which I thought was sweet. He's a choc lab and absolutely gorgeous if it matters. However she's called him Tobias which obviously is being shortened to Toby!!

I'm absolutely fuming. At the time I said oh but that's our name for our baby and she did a fucking tinkling laugh and said 'oh but nobody owns a name'. I went home and absolutely bawled my eye out to DH who gave her a ring and tried to explain how we felt. She is refusing to change the dogs name and has passed on a message through our ILs that we graciously doesn't mind if we copy her baby's name but she won't be changing it.

I know nobody owns a name and I know I was so, so stupid to tell her the name early but seriously what the fuck?! Am I being irrational or is this just fucking crazy?!

OP posts:
maddiemookins16mum · 23/01/2017 14:46

If you don't call your son Toby now then "she wins" (not that it's a competition). Just take a deep breath, smile, be the better person and enjoy this special time awaiting the birth of your son (and don't ask her to be Godmother whatever happens).

*you could always use her ex partners name as a second name to wind her up...oh, I never saud that out loud did I 😂

maddiemookins16mum · 23/01/2017 14:48

Oh and as much as I love pets, you're not using her "babies name", she has a much loved pet, not a son.

IAmNotAUserNumber · 23/01/2017 16:04

devastated here's a definition from the Cambridge dictionary - it is not a synonym for "slightly upset", "rather annoyed", "a bit miffed" or ""down in the dumps"
dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/devastated

cbigs · 23/01/2017 16:11

What a petty dick head HmmI'd feel the same op .
Call your baby whatever you want . She has a dog not a child . No one will care and only matters if you let it . Flowers

Lunde · 23/01/2017 16:12

Call the dog Tobi-ass - emphasising the ass

nanatobetobe · 23/01/2017 19:27

I was actually named after the midwifes dog! My parents hadn't thought of a name and she told them she had just bought a puppy and they liked the name so much they used it for me 😳

I also have a westie called Toby 😄

Lynnm63 · 25/01/2017 09:56

This is going to be on the Wright Stuff shortly. Hope the ops sil isn't a viewer.

SanitysSake · 25/01/2017 10:04

I'm sat here watching the TV for it, too. Bet this thread gets shut down fairly quickly as a consequence!

seafoodeatit · 25/01/2017 10:12

I hope the SIL is watching, I'd love to see her face.

dinkystinky · 25/01/2017 10:15

Use the name anyway. Call your baby Toby and the dog - when you refer to it - Toto (toby two) or something else. And avoid your SIL - she's simply spiteful.

Cguk81 · 25/01/2017 10:18

Sounds like she's done it purely with the intention to piss you off! If you still really like the name Toby then go for it and don't let her see that it has bothered you. You have Toby the baby she has Toby the dog...you win!

littlemissneela · 25/01/2017 10:31

It is very annoying. My sil has a dog who has been named the shortened version of my sons name. He would have been 16 years old when they got the pup, so its not like they didn't know. Its silly that it bugs me, but hey ho!

10Betty10 · 25/01/2017 10:35

Show her Arrested Development's Tobias Funke. Enough to put anyone off a name.

Jaxhog · 25/01/2017 10:35

If you like the name, stick with it. I suspect she's jealous of your baby. Once you have a little son, she'll still have just a dog. I doubt anyone will confuse the two.

SanitysSake · 25/01/2017 10:39

I'd keep your name. I'd also be tempted to let everyone know at every opportunity that you'd selected the name first and that imitation is truly the best form of flattery - particularly for those who are limited on the imagination front...

BathshebaDarkstone · 25/01/2017 10:41

That's calculating and nasty. Call your DS Toby.

Missdread · 25/01/2017 10:44

They're discussing this thread on The Wright Stuff!

xStefx · 25/01/2017 10:45

Still call your baby Toby, the dog will die in a few years. Fuck her. I actually think she did it on purpose because she is jealous.

Ihatethedailymail1 · 25/01/2017 10:45

This thread is on The Wright stuff after the break....

HELLO MATTHEW!!!

Mrs40 · 25/01/2017 10:46

This story is on The Wright Stuff this morning!

BathshebaDarkstone · 25/01/2017 10:47

Ooh it's the first time I've been on a thread that's got on to the Wright Stuff! Grin

Trollspoopglitter · 25/01/2017 10:50

I would get a cat and name it after her ex.

10Betty10 · 25/01/2017 10:51

Pfft Yasmin.

Toadfish has got it right.

toofarfromcivilisation · 25/01/2017 10:52

My SIL pinched 'my name' when her baby was born a month before mine & I was furious too. They used to call my son by his first & middle initial which made me even more angry. We had discussed names a lot & she had always said she was going to use another name.
It was my Father's name too!

10Betty10 · 25/01/2017 10:53

I think the sister in law is on the phone at the moment.

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