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Since having children, my husband and I have developed our own household lingo. Maybe we just got punchy after too many sleepless nights, but we started using code words. Also, as can happen from time spent living intimately with a group, our family has developed a repertoire of inside jokes that we reference often but would mean nothing to outsiders.

Today I share with you a few of my favorites from the past 10 years.

Going Popsicle: To love something so much that you are going to thoroughly melt down.

When my 1st born was a baby, he had a popsicle-shaped teether. It’s the kind that you put in the freezer, and then the kid can chew it as it thaws. Our son loved the popsicle teether. No matter how he was feeling beforehand, you could hand him the popsicle, and he we would be content and smiley for around 8 minutes. But somewhere around 9 minutes, he would go the other direction and totally freak out. It’s as if he was so intensely blissed out, he couldn’t take it anymore. Maybe he just got ticked that the icy feel started to wear off. Either way, he went into a screaming fit by minute 10. Every time. The thing was it was one of the only rock solid ways to buy 10 undistracted minutes, so we still used it when absolutely necessary knowing full well that we’d have to pay the price.

Since then, when one of our children gets overstimulated by something they are really enjoying, to the point that it turns ugly, my husband and I call it “going popsicle”.

Saw-Gaw: To be in such a state of goofy, exhausted silliness that you will not speak anything but gibberish.

Again, I turn to my oldest child. He went through a period in which he stopped talking English when he was in full goofball mode. He would say “saw-gaw” in response to questions. He outgrew this, but when either of our kids are just spinning into nonsensical, overstimulated, silly mode, either my husband or I will yell “saw-gaw!”

Asparagus: What my husband claims is in everything.

This is a running gag in which my husband answers any questions regarding food with “asparagus.” When my kids ask what’s in their packed lunch, my husband says “asparagus.” When my kids ask what flavors of ice cream we have, my husband answers “asparagus.” When they ask what kind of muffins are in the oven? You guessed it. It’s said so often that my kids no longer believe him, although we do actually eat asparagus from time to time just to keep everyone on their toes.

Faking narcolepsy: Pretending to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, until mom notices.

This one is my kids’ idea, especially at the dinner table. One of my sons will lean his head to the side and close his eyes to pretend he fell asleep while sitting up. I say “oh no!” in this specific sing-song voice, and we all laugh. I have no idea how this started.

“I enjoy every minute with my son”: While this sounds nice, it’s used in sarcasm. Let me explain…

After we had our 1st son, I was stressing out over everything possible. One area I would grill my husband on was whether he was fully enjoying our newborn. My husband explained that he loved our son immensely, but there wasn’t much to do with a baby other than hold it, so their level of bonding would grow more and more as the baby grew and they could do more together (he was right, by the way).

He found my stress over this confounding and would try to appease me by saying, “I enjoy every minute with my son.” But then he started saying it during the crazy parenting moments. Like when the baby blows through a diaper at the mall in your arms so you are covered in the unspeakable. In these moments, my husband would look at me and say, “I enjoy every minute with my son.” We still say it to each other when we are ready to pull our hair out.  It lightens the mood. Plus, we do really love our kids, and it’s a good reminder in the dark moments.

We try to keep a good sense of humor in our household. I believe it’s truly essential to stay sane when raising children.

How does your family keep a sense of humor? Do you have any inside jokes or code words?

This has been an original post for World Moms Blog by Tara B.

Photo credit to the author.

Tara Bergman (USA)

Tara is a native Pennsylvanian who moved to the Seattle area in 1998 (sight unseen) with her husband to start their grand life adventure together. Despite the difficult fact that their family is a plane ride away, the couple fell in love with the Pacific Northwest and have put down roots. They have 2 super charged little boys and recently moved out of the Seattle suburbs further east into the country, trading in a Starbucks on every corner for coyotes in the backyard. Tara loves the outdoors (hiking, biking, camping). And, when her family isn't out in nature, they are hunkered down at home with friends, sharing a meal, playing games, and generally having fun. She loves being a stay-at-home mom and sharing her experiences on World Moms Network!

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