my SIL is unhinged

[Anonymous]

I'm the OP.

My kitty's name is Ophelia. DH did not name her, and didn't know his sister had a secret baby name at all.

I don't think she has Aspergers. I've only met her a handful of times, and she seemed warm and outgoing. But then again, she has shown no interest in keeping in touch with her brother, or getting to know me better via email/Facetime, etc. DH says she has always been "odd". She is 6 years older than he is, and she never came home again after leaving for college, and never made much attempt to connect with him.

[Anonymous]

Say okay and then give your cat her name

[Anonymous]

Call me crazy but the request itself does not sound like the worst thing in the world. She's not the first person to have a name they've always loved picked out far in advance. And while it's not off the table for her in the way it pretty much would be if it was your child not your cat, it's still going to feel at least a little strange for her to use the name, say in the next three to five years. Especially if you are a relatively small family and do keep contact.

Think of it this way, if by happenstance she had shared in conversation before you ever got the kitten that she's always loved the name Ophelia and wanted to use it for her child one day, you would never have used it for the kitty (I hope).

Obviously her communication style is way off and you are not obligated to change the name, but if you separate the substance of the request from the style and put yourself in her shoes, maybe you'd find that there are some other names that would work just fine for your kitty.

Anyway just a thought. A thought I fear I am typing in response to a fake post but hey it's still a little fun to consider these scenarios, whether real or not

[Anonymous]

My son has the same name as my Uncle and Aunt's dog. My father also has the same name. At family gatherings we just call them Big X, Little X, and Dog X. I think it's funny. For the record, they adopted the dog and it already had the name, but no one expected them to change it. It's a dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Change the cats name...

To your SIL name.

LOL!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but the request itself does not sound like the worst thing in the world. She's not the first person to have a name they've always loved picked out far in advance. And while it's not off the table for her in the way it pretty much would be if it was your child not your cat, it's still going to feel at least a little strange for her to use the name, say in the next three to five years. Especially if you are a relatively small family and do keep contact.

Think of it this way, if by happenstance she had shared in conversation before you ever got the kitten that she's always loved the name Ophelia and wanted to use it for her child one day, you would never have used it for the kitty (I hope).

Obviously her communication style is way off and you are not obligated to change the name, but if you separate the substance of the request from the style and put yourself in her shoes, maybe you'd find that there are some other names that would work just fine for your kitty.

Anyway just a thought. A thought I fear I am typing in response to a fake post but hey it's still a little fun to consider these scenarios, whether real or not

I agree. Maybe she is sad about not having a baby. Whatever. It's not that big a deal, so I might just go ahead and change the name.

[Anonymous]

I'm on team "ignore it". If, for some reason, you are forced to respond to her, promise you'll change the cat's name as soon as baby Ophelia is born. Tell her it's a placeholder so nobody else in the family steals the name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just out of curiosity, your DH didn't pick the kittens name right? B/c there is a slight chance he is stirring the pot... Though the chance any brother knows his sisters potential baby names is vanishingly small

Really? Stirring the pot by naming a kitten that might offend a sister with whom he is not close? This post is insane. She lives in another country and they never speak. How can you even get there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the cat's name "Kitty"?

I bet op is actually lying to us and kitty's name, as selected by her dh, is MySisterIsAPsychoticBirchThankGodSheStillLivesinEngland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Say okay and then give your cat her name

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but the request itself does not sound like the worst thing in the world. She's not the first person to have a name they've always loved picked out far in advance. And while it's not off the table for her in the way it pretty much would be if it was your child not your cat, it's still going to feel at least a little strange for her to use the name, say in the next three to five years. Especially if you are a relatively small family and do keep contact.

Think of it this way, if by happenstance she had shared in conversation before you ever got the kitten that she's always loved the name Ophelia and wanted to use it for her child one day, you would never have used it for the kitty (I hope).

Obviously her communication style is way off and you are not obligated to change the name, but if you separate the substance of the request from the style and put yourself in her shoes, maybe you'd find that there are some other names that would work just fine for your kitty.

Anyway just a thought. A thought I fear I am typing in response to a fake post but hey it's still a little fun to consider these scenarios, whether real or not

Ummmm no.

[Anonymous]

You are doing her future child a favor. No human should be named after a famous suicidal teenager.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Change the cats name...

To your SIL name.

Come sit next to me, PP. I like your style!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call me crazy but the request itself does not sound like the worst thing in the world. She's not the first person to have a name they've always loved picked out far in advance. And while it's not off the table for her in the way it pretty much would be if it was your child not your cat, it's still going to feel at least a little strange for her to use the name, say in the next three to five years. Especially if you are a relatively small family and do keep contact.

Think of it this way, if by happenstance she had shared in conversation before you ever got the kitten that she's always loved the name Ophelia and wanted to use it for her child one day, you would never have used it for the kitty (I hope).

Obviously her communication style is way off and you are not obligated to change the name, but if you separate the substance of the request from the style and put yourself in her shoes, maybe you'd find that there are some other names that would work just fine for your kitty.

Anyway just a thought. A thought I fear I am typing in response to a fake post but hey it's still a little fun to consider these scenarios, whether real or not

Ummmm no.

PP, you are much more generous in spirit than most. It's kind of you to think this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are doing her future child a favor. No human should be named after a famous suicidal teenager.

+1
Ignore the email.