Her name was Magdalena. She liked her name. She thought it was pretty and different. She liked the way it sounded.
The problem was no one called her that. Her mom called her “Mags.” Her dad called her “Lena” and “Sweetie.” Her brother Ricardo called her “Sis.” Her teachers called her “Maggie.” No one called her “Magdalena.” One day she decided to talk to her mother about it.
“Why doesn’t anyone call me by my name?” Magdalena asked.
Her mother gave her a puzzled look.
“I don’t know,” her mother responded. “Maybe because your name is long.”
“But I like it,” Magdalena replied.
“I like your name too. It is a beautiful name. I helped choose it!”
“Then why doesn’t anyone say it?” Magdalena asked. “My name isn’t Maggie or Mags or Lena or Sweetie. It’s Magdalena.”
Her mom smiled. “You are absolutely right,” she replied. “I will only call you by your name from now on.”
A few hours later, Magdalena’s dad and brother came home. Her mom met them at the door.
“From now on, we are calling our daughter by her name,” her mom told them. “Magdalena. Not Maggie or Mags or anything else.” Her dad and brother looked at each other.
“So I can’t call her my sweetie?” her father asked.
“No,” her mother answered.
“I can’t call her Sis?” Ricardo asked.
“No,” her mom said again.
“What about Maggie Waggy?” Ricardo asked, smiling.
“Definitely not!” Magdalena yelled from the kitchen, where she listened to every word.
She walked to where they were all standing.
“Okay, we agree,” her dad said. He looked at Ricardo, who nodded his head.
From that day on, she was always called Magdalena. And she never got tired of hearing her name.
