Has anyone seen the recent headlines about the parents who named their young kids after Nazis?  A few weeks ago there was a story about a mom and dad who called up the local bakery, for their preschool aged son’s birthday cake, to be decorated with the words ‘Happy Birthday Adolph Hitler.’  Yep, you read that correctly.  Not ‘Happy Birthday Johnny, or Owen, or even Finn.’  Happy Birthday Adolph Hitler.

Freaky right?  Who does that?  Well, it turns out these parents did, and not just to one child, but two others.  Fast forward a couple weeks, and now those kids have been taken from their home, and put into protective custody.

Well good.  Granted, I don’t know the parents, and I don’t know the children, but common sense tells me that any mom and dad naming their kids such things could use a session or two in state mandated parenting classes.  Remember people, kids are people too.  They go to school, likely ride the bus, and hopefully, one day even interview for a job that will help them support their family. 

But who’s going to hire a guy named Adolph Hitler?  Did their ‘idealistic’ parents stop to think that far ahead?  Did they ever think for a minute that maybe young Adolph might strike up a friendship with a kid in his class, who might then want to come over for a visit, or even a sleepover?  Knock Knock parents—anybody home?  Would you want your child visiting a kid named Adolph Hitler at his house?

I wouldn’t, and likely neither would you.  I read an article that quoted the parents as saying there were open minded people.  That it wouldn’t matter to them who their kids hung out with, what race they were, religion, or anything else.  Do you believe that?  I don’t.  No one who names their child Adolph Hitler will sell me on their open hearted, open minded self ‘doctrine.’

So now the three young children are in the custody of the state.  And the parents, I don’t know where they are.  I think it would be pretty confusing to tell these young ones that they are not at home with mommy and daddy because there is something not right about their names.  But that’s not it.  There’s something more sinister there I think.  That’s not the whole story, not by a long shot. 

The first bakery they called refused to ice the birthday cake with that message on it.  Happy birthday Adolph Hitler, which is sad in a way, because it is after all, the young boy’s birthday, and let’s face it, he didn’t name himself.  But if I were the bakery, I’m sure I’d have done the same.  And said ‘Sorry folks,  no way.  I’ll say Happy Birthday, but not the Adolph Hilter part.’  I understand they called some larger grocery store chain, or large retailer, who ended up saying yes, and then made some noise about ‘suing the first store that said no.’  Sorry ‘parents,’ you’ve got other legal matters to deal with now.