Picking my battles, one name at a time

I have been working on teaching Declan the proper name for each of our local parks, but he is about as interested in the knowledge as he is learning to tie his own shoes.

"We're going to Norris Park," I said recently.

"Where?" he replied, looking at me with more than a little confusion.

"The park with the new slide," I added.

"Oh, you mean the red park," he said, then proceeded to give me the look that indicated he felt sorry for my ignorance.

"It's called Norris Park, not the red park," I replied but Declan was defiantly looking out the car window before I could complete my sentence.

This wasn't the first time Declan and I had the "Red Park" conversation, but unfortunately for me we both knew it. He has his own name for each of our parks and frankly they make more sense than the actual names, so why confuse matters, at least that is his mindset.

I am not too terribly worried about it. I do have to pick my battles with him and this one just doesn't seem to have the downside that most of our conflicts do. The embarrassment of knowing my son will be one of the last in the first grade to learn to tie his shoes is significantly more concerning, then there is that tripping thing too.

I am not 100 percent convinced he is wrong about the park names though.

He looked at Norris Park and saw red colored playground equipment, "Red Park" it is. Kelley Park is "The Frisbee Park," although he usually adds "with the rocket slide that goes way too fast." Barnett Park is "The Park with the Ponds."

In Declan's defense I have yet to run into anyone, that doesn't work for the city, that has any clue where Russell Park is, until after I use the Declan descriptive of "the one with the water tower."

Maybe that is where Declan's defiance to the official names stems from, in all of our adult-ish wisdom, we haven't been exactly consistent with our naming of stuff.

After months of building a "Municipal Facility," the city announced last week their new building would be known as the "Municipal Center," yet when I called their offices earlier this week they answered the phone, "Public Safety Center."

City staff often refer to their former home as "City Auditorium," despite the blaring sign across the front of the building that reads "Memorial Auditorium."

It's not just the city either, I am certain that the new Red Willow County Jail, or Detention Center, or whatever it ends up being named, will eventually have a sign installed in front that reads something completely different as well.

I also don't believe anyone I know referred to the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves training facility east of McCook as "The Armed Forces Reserve Center," until after the sign was planted in front of their structure.

All of that being considered, I am struggling with taking a hard-line when it comes to referring to each of our public parks by their proper name.

I may just be distracting myself and Declan from the real battle though, convincing him he not only can, but really needs to learn to tie his shoes. Heck, if I haven't made progress in the shoestring department by the end of the month I am at least certain of one thing, the conversation with Declan pertaining to who the "Born-Again Bunny" is should be very entertaining.