Terms of Endearment

Chookooloonks. What a delightful sounding, fun-to-say word. And made all the more delightful by its meaning: it is a Trinidadian word of endearment for a child, meaning 'sweetheart', 'darling'. It is not used for adults, because the term also has the connotations 'little' and 'cute' attached to it.

I chanced upon it when I was looking for interesting blogs to read. And the name caught my attention. Yes, it's a mommy blog...full og great stories, anecdotes and pictures. Although it has been discontinued for quite a long while now, you can still go through all the earlier posts, which have thankfully been left intact.

The word got me thinking about all the terms of endearment we use for our babes and bobs. Not just the dictionary 'legitimised' and author-approved ones, but the ones we fondly make up as we go along.

I'm writing this particlar piece today, because I don't want to forget the words I use today, especially the ones I've made up. So here's a list of some of terms of endearment that I use for my little ones. I hope you'll all share yours with me too!

For the EO:

• A******ku-poochisku-poochie-papa : I've twisted his 'good name' around to give it a nice, fun, onomatopaeic sound. The EO and always had a grand time with this one when he had started babbling and talking. During cuddle times and huggy moments, I would look into his eyes and start of, "A******ku-poochisku-poochie?" and he would complete it with a loud, elongated and excited "PAAAAAAAPAAAAAAA!!" And we'd collapse into a giggly mass of love and hugs!
• A***-the-tinu-the-dinu-the-minu! : Would often say this with my hands on my hips using a mock-severe tone of voice. The EO would look into my eyes, zapped, see my smile and then hide his own smile with his two little hands!
• My A***-pie : My variation of sweetie-pie and baby-pie, both of which I of course used and still do...yes, all three types of 'pies', even today!
• My sweetie-peetie-pie : Another variation which is still strongly in use.
• My coochie-poochie-pie : Another 'pie' filling.
• Aamaar A*** shona : Translates from the Bengali to "My A*** darling!"
• And a couplet which I made up for him right after he was born, which I recite for him till date, in a singsong voice --
  "Aamaar shona, aamaar baby, coochie-poochie-pie!
  Aamaar sweetheart, aamaar angel, apple of my eye!"

For the YO:

• My cuddly bear, my teddy bear : Because he so reminded me of one when he was born.
• My pug or puggy-buggy : His nose gave rise to that one!
• My sweetie-peetie-pie : Yes, I use this for him too!
• My coochie-poochie-pie : And this one as well!
• Ghaanchuli-pooku-paka : No meaning, this one. Just random sounds, strung together. Guaranteed to get a chuckle and wide, ear-to-ear grin from the YO.
• Shontuli-pooku-paka : ~ditto~
• A short two liner for him:
  "Aamaar gattu-poochie taa!
  Aamaar shona-shona taa!"
• Another two-liner, recited in a sing-song voice, just like the one above:
  "Aamaar A****** shonaa taa!
  Aamaar chhotto baby taa!"

I hope one day, they'll both read this, smile, get embarassed, blush and feel their hearts overflow with the love that I have for them! And the cherry on top? Well, if they modify these and the lullabies I wrote for them and use them for their own kids!