Couple gives children names of spirits and now gets baking criticism

A British couple gets a head start on the internet after it became known that it gave two of its children the names of alcoholic drinks: Jackdaniel and Tiamarie. Sarah (35) and Steven (36) Mennell, however, immediately responded to their critics.

The storm started after the mother of the family from Kingston upon Hull – east of Manchester – told a local newspaper this week that she was spending hundreds of euros on her children’s school uniform. There was a lot of reaction to the article, but not to the parents’ spending pattern. On the names, they had given two of their five children.

“Child abuse”

“Child abuse,” it sounded, and Sarah was blamed in no uncertain terms for having an alcohol problem. The jokes were also not omitted: “Their dad Johnny Walker has been working overtime”, someone responded. And: “He has two other children named Stella and Glen Fiddich. Great family.” (To be clear: the other three children are called Sydney, Princes, and Albert.)

In a long post on Facebook the couple – which has a company that organizes children’s parties – have now responded to criticasters. Sarah said that her children were not named after a whiskey brand or a coffee liqueur. “Jackdaniel is actually named after an Olympic running coach,” she says. “We thought it was funny that his team was sponsored by Jack Daniels. When I was pregnant with Jackdaniel, we saw his arms and legs move on a scan, as if he were walking. And so we came to his name. He knows that himself.”

Tiamarie is said to be named after a Spanish waitress with the same name. “We thought that sounded nice when we were on vacation,” said Sarah. “If she had been a boy, we would have named her after a Portuguese football player, Tiago, because I was crazy about football when I met Steven.”

She would not lift the criticism, because the family is used to it. In the meantime, Sarah also shared a video on Facebook in which the children themselves speak.

When asked by their parents if they would like their name or would they change it if they were given the opportunity, all five answered that they would never do that and that they love their name. “It is my life, stop all the jealousy around our names and focus on your own life,” said Jackdaniel. “You must have something better to do than bully us.”

Drunk

And what about the drinking behavior of their parents? “They barely drink,” the boy said. “They get drunk every two months. In the three months, to be honest.”

According to father Steve, he and his wife would go out once a month when their wages come in, but it would always be “very quiet”. He told the Daily Mail.