Every parent wants their child to succeed in school - but their grades shouldn't cost them their health or happiness. But one mum who wants her twins to achieve top grades in all subjects has decided to give them 'matching' college-inspired names to encourage them to reach their full potential.
Taking to Reddit, a woman explained how her sister, Katie, and brother-in-law, Daniel, want to name their twin boys Stanford and Yale. She said: "I’m the youngest of three siblings. Out of the three of us, Katie is the one who 'made it' (her words).
"She attended Yale law school and is engaged to a neurosurgeon, Daniel, who attended Stanford medical school. Over the years, it’s become clear that Katie looks down on me and Ian because we aren’t as ambitious/successful/credentialed as she is."
She went on to explain how Katie takes every opportunity to point out how she's 'more accomplished' than her siblings - urging them to look up to her as a role model.
"Katie has expressed her astonishment that the family business is profitable even though someone who got Cs in high school and never went to college (aka me) has been running the day-to-day operations for 10+ years," she added.
"Katie also once told Ian to his face that he 'wasted his potential'. Ian was the valedictorian of his high school class, just like Katie, by dropping out of college to help mum run the family business after dad passed away."
When announcing their pregnancy on social media, Katie and Daniel shared their intention to name their children after the two prestigious schools.
She said: "I commented 'Congratulations!' but later I texted her to say that it wasn’t right to give the boys ridiculous names that would put them under immense pressure to succeed from a very young age.
I also asked her about what would happen if one or both of them weren’t as successful/perfect as she hoped.
"Kate didn’t like the points that I made. She texted back, 'I wasn’t asking for opinions, especially from someone like you. Consider yourself uninvited from our wedding until you sincerely apologise'.
"I was already leaning towards not attending due to Katie's condescending attitude towards me, but the 'Someone like you' comment sealed the deal.
"I told Ian what happened, but he said that I should've kept my thoughts to myself."
Wanting to know whether she's in the wrong for speaking her mind, she has taken to social media to ask users for their thoughts.
In response, one user said: "Ask her why the kids should be reminded on a daily basis that she didn't get into Harvard Law? Don't go to the wedding she sounds insufferable"
Another user added: "Parents should be steered away from giving their children highly bully-able names."
A third user said: " You brought this up in private (the way such things should be, especially when first broaching a subject like this), and, frankly, someone needs to tell her that kids are meant to be their own people.
"She's about to give birth to two trophies to her career accomplishments, and I feel very, very bad for the kids.
"Given her attitude, I'm not surprised this didn't change anything, but good on you for trying."
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