We have several dictionaries on the bookshelves in our house including a My First Dictionary, a Children’s Illustrated Dictionary, and the classic Webster’s version. However, while I was visiting family over the holidays, I realized that the Gregory family also has another type of dictionary.  

On Christmas Eve, I pulled into nearest spot to the grocery store in a very busy parking lot.  I was so excited, but quickly realized that I didn’t have my kids or husband with me to share the joy.  I jumped out of the car and yelled to some strangers who were getting out of their car, “Isn’t this amazing! I got the Christmas spot on Christmas Eve.”  I attributed their blank looks to the fact that they were busy or couldn’t hear me above the traffic. As I hurried into the store, it never even occurred to me that they had no idea about what the Christmas Spot was and that they probably thought I had lost my mind.

Then it hit me. The Christmas Spot.  This is a phrase that our family made up, but that the rest of the world doesn’t know.  I quickly realized that every family has their own dictionary with words and jokes that only mean something to themselves.

Our dictionary (as I bet yours does) has a section for nicknames.  I’ve got a prized spot reserved for the names my kids called each other before they could say their real names (Tee and LaLa).  There are also several pages devoted to the cute words they said as they were learning to talk, such as Pop (stop) and Otay (O.K).  And of course, there is a picture of both of my babies with the caption saying “I wuv you” for the first time.  

I think that my favorite entries are the words that my kids made up and mixed up over the years. Now we repeat them constantly just because they are funny.  I will always laugh when my son talks about how something happened before he was boring (born).  Whenever he watches football, he always yells “Daddy, the guy went out of balance!” (out of bounds). And although my daughter knows what a headband is, she still asks if I know where her “bamboo” is.  The phrase “bubble-eye” towel is such a common saying that we’ve forgotten that my daughter coined the term to describe the towel you use to wipe soap from your eyes.

I can’t wait to see what words are added to our dictionary as the years fly by.  And I’m really hoping that some of these words make it into my children’s family dictionary when they have kids.  I know I will be very proud if I ever hear one of my grandkids refer to Swiss Cheese as “Mouse Cheese.”

And in case you are wondering, we call the first spot in the parking lot “The Christmas Spot” because it’s a gift that you don’t expect.  We have also deemed the second spot in the lot as “The Birthday Spot."  There is some debate within my family if the third spot is the “Halloween Spot” or the “Valentines Day Spot.”  However, we all agree that if you are in the back of the lot that you are in the “April 15th Spot.”

Jennifer appears Mondays on TriangleMom2Mom.