I am a part-time music teacher and one of the things I do with my groups of 2-3-4 year olds is clap the rhythms of their names. Some are very interesting indeed: “Maximus Henry Wittlestone” takes some beating ~ and may say something about the area in which I live, not to mention that he goes to a private nursery where snack time involves blueberries and chia seeds rather than marmite sandwiches. For every Maximus, there are plenty of Harrys, Olivers, Scarletts and Poppys. When we do this exercise, I often point out that my mono-syllabic name is very boring indeed to clap. I love my name though and wonder what it would be like to dislike a name for life ~ it must be awful.

One problem I do have with my moniker is that I am called by my middle name. This has led to a lifetime of doctors and dentists calling me by my first name; I drew the line at my first wedding when the registrar referred to me incorrectly. I let him continue for a while before an aunt of mine tapped me on the shoulder and suggested I correct him.

Both my parents were called by their middle names, so you’d have thought they might have thought twice about landing me with the same problem. Mind you, to further confuse things, my mother was too nervous on her first day at boarding school to correct the teacher reading out the register, so everyone who knew Mum after she was 11 call her one thing and her family call her another. Some people are deeply suspicious that I chose my second name, and hate my first, but the reality is it was my parents who welcomed me into this confusing -enough -already world, that called me by my middle name.

When I started this blog I was very amused to see that there is another “Annie Bee” who describes herself thus,

   I used to be a professional disciplinarian and I spent much of my time spanking, caning and tawsing naughty boy’s bottoms. Those days are over, but I still regularly thrash my partner…..

She writes books as well as a blog, and it delights me to wonder whether people might be mixing us up at the google search stage. Those wanting a few pointers on corporal punishment might be surprised to find me ranting about the menopause or discussing the importance of portion control when dieting.

So if you have come to this page expecting instructions on using ‘hellstraps’, you are forgiven  the confusion.

Have a super weekend

Annie Bee x