Dear Anonymous Email Sender

I received an email today from a woman who says that she is absolutely horrified at the spelling of my children's names. She claims that she is a teacher and that I should be ashamed of myself for setting my children up for certain ridicule when they are in school.

This email comes after I was reading a message board where a woman was making fun of my children's names. She received the Scrapbook.com email newsletter which contained a portion of my weeklyn column. Breuklyn's name was mentioned in the portion that she read, and she was "disgusted" that I had "messed up" not only one child's name, but all three. I bet that she would be surprised to find that I read what she wrote about my children. The internet isn't all that big.

Names are personal. Names are definitely something that you hear and either think, "Wow... love it" or "Blech. Don't like it." Regardless of one's initial reaction, I would hope that one would have the decency to keep such a reaction to oneself. Again, names are very personal and I will take it personally if someone feels it necessary to insult my very young children.

I love Breuklyn's name. It is the name of a city in the Netherlands. It is also the original spelling of Brooklyn, so it isn't like I made it up out of nowhere. I really feel that I shouldn't have to defend my choice, but here I am defending it.

I grew up with a unique name. There aren't that many Estee's running around. Is it annoying that I have to spell out my name to people on the phone? No. Is it annoying that I can't buy a pencil or a mug with my name printed on the front. Um... No. Is it cool that someone can say my name and someone else could jump in and say, "Hey! I know her!" from name recognition only. Yes. I think that is cool. I LIKE being the only Estee that I know. I feel special. Does that mean that every Sarah or Jennifer doesn't feel special? No, not at all. All it means is that I like having a unique name. I always have. And now my children will have that same opportunity.

So please stop with the anonymous emails and the ridiculous jabs on message boards. And that is all I have to say about that.