Don't Name Your Daughter Patience, and other things I've learned from reality TV

Ok, my obsession-of-the-moment is Super Nanny. I love her. Jo something. Anyway, seeing her on The Talk today made me realize that I shoulda been watching her ever since I started teaching preschool, if not before. This woman is brilliant. You know when everything someone is saying makes so much sense that you feel kinda stupid for not thinking of it first? That's her. And she doesn't even try to Americanize her speech--she says "cross" instead of "mad." The most important thing I learned from her today was this:

Don't Name Your Daughter Patience: You'd think it was a no-brainer, but it's really not (apparently). That's like naming your kid Mick Jagger and being pissed off when he just wants to collect tolls on the Jersey Turnpike. Think about how much pressure is on you from DAY ONE if the first and most frequent word you hear is "Patience." It's enough to make me crazy just thinking about it. Now you think about it--gets under your skin pretty quickly, doesn't it? What happens the first time the girl hears and understands that word as a command to be...patient. That's gotta mess you up a little. And I bet you she thinks twice before losing her....patience. "Patience, Patience!" Shoot me now.

(More lessons from Reality TV will appear just once in a very blue moon...)