Violet: Color, Flower, Literary Character, and My Kid!

Names are pretty important to new parents.  Couples spend a lot of time trying to find the perfect name for a person they have never met.  It is hard work.  My husband said "no" to many of the names that I suggested.  And I certainly expressed my deep concern when Kevin suggested Vera and Pearl.  Vera and Pearl Mlutkowski?????  Anyway, it is hard to pick names.  However, most of the time names seem to fit the kid.  Mimi is actually an Amelia and I think her given name and nickname suits her well.  She is a smart, playful, sassy, caring, loves to please, and is beautiful little girl.  Violet is all the things that her sister is but a little more devious.  But, little did we know when we named her she has a literary and silver screen doppelganger.  


Have you ever read Charlie and Chocolate Factory or seen the movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?  Do you remember the character Violet Beauregarde?  Well Violet is a gum chewing champ and she turns into a giant blueberry after eating blueberry pie gum.  She swells up in a giant blueberry and the Oompa Loompas have to take her down to the juicing room to return her back to normal.

Violet Beauregarde - this could happen to my own Violet!

We had planned to name our own Violet, Lucy.  About a month before she was born, Kevin said, "How about the name Violet?"  Sure, why not!  Well, we could not have picked a more appropriate name.  She loves the color purple even though we tried to steer clear of dressing her in too much purple.  Do you know how annoying it is to hear, "Oh, you named her Violet and you dress her in purple.  How cute!  Do you do that all the time?"  Uh no, I just liked the outfit.  But, she likes purple.  She also loves blueberries.  I am not talking about just enjoying blueberries.  The child can down a pint of blueberries a day.  At least blueberries are a super food!  Well, yesterday the child ate so many blueberries (frozen, fresh, and in pancakes) that she actually started to resemble Violet Beauregarde.  Blueberry stains around her mouth, her chin, cheeks, eyes, forehead - they were everywhere.

Violet -the Blueberry Monster!  This picture does not really show how
blue her face became after eating so many blueberries.

After dinner, we ventured outside to plant our flower, fruit, and veggie gardens.  The girls wanted to plant blueberries and strawberries this year.  They were so excited.  Mimi was a great help but Violet who looked like a walking blueberry stated, "I don't want to help.  I don't want to get dirty."  Interesting because she was covered in blueberry stains, snot, and dirt already.

Mimi - the Strawberry Monster planting strawberry plants.

Violet's blueberry plant

So, what is in a name and how does my name suit me?  Well, I basically believe that sometimes my name should mean lazy moron.  After planting I decided to water the gardens.  Even though I have not forgotten that I am dog-sitting for my parents, I did forget (or too lazy) to clean up dog poop! I dragged the hose across the backyard and watered my plants.  As I was putting the hose away I kept smelling something very nasty.  I realized there was poop on the hose, poop - not dirt on my hands, and poop on my clothes.  GROSSSSSSS!!!!!!  Ugh!  I cleaned myself up very quickly and my shoes spent the night outside.  When trying to clean my shoes this morning, I noticed what bad shape they are actually in.  Therefore, I am ditching my old shoes and trading them in or a new model.

Rather bold and clownish but, hey they are sooo comfy!

To quote one of my favorite comedians, Mel Brooks, "Every human being has hundreds of separate people living under his skin.  The talent of a writer is his ability to give them their separate names, identities, personalities and have them relate to other characters living with him."  I like this quote for a couple reasons.  We are not born in a vacuum.  We are the product of our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and all of their experiences. We are an individuals under constant influence.  Maybe that is why reading fiction is so fun.  The characters maybe imaginary but you know they could have existed, maybe just not so exaggerated.  So, isn't it fun when fiction and real life collide?  Whenever Violet eats blueberries, I often think that one these days an Oompa Loompa is going to have to take her away for juicing.  Maybe this thought is wrong, but it does make me smile!