How Ben Got His Name

I didn't name my son Benjamin after Tom Brady's son.  Well, not exactly.

I'd suggested the name "Benjamin" several times to my husband and he vetoed it several times.  I read about the birth of Tom Brady's son just a few weeks before Ben was born and told Don again that if "Benjamin" was good enough for Tom Brady, surely it was good enough for us.  But he was still against it.

Flash forward to the evening of Ben's birth, six weeks before we were expecting him, and we sat with our laptop trying to agree on a name while timing contractions and watching his little heartbeat on the monitor.  We needed a name.  ASAP.

Since we hadn't picked anything out, I assumed we would be naming him Alec, after Don's grandfather.  We had agreed it would at least be a middle name, but with time running out it was being seriously considered for a promotion to first name.

But, Don surprised me and said he thought we should name him Benjamin.  We're talking really last minute here, as in he went up to the NICU in an isolette that listed him as Baby Boy MacDougall.  The next morning it was settled and Baby Boy became Benjamin Alec.  I'm fairly certain Tom Brady won't mind.  We weren't really copying him.

I can't say the same about those Travoltas though...I'm fairly certain they copied me when their son Benjamin was named a few months after mine....