I’m fascinated by words.
For instance, the Inuit apparently have dozens of words for snow. “Piegnartoq” for “the snow [that is] good for driving sled,” and “aqilokoq” for “softly falling snow” are just two examples.
One of my good friends shared with me that the term “manage up” is prevalent in the organization where she works and is part of the corporate culture. It means that you are only nice and do work for someone higher up in the hierarchy so that you can work your way up.
In ways that you can have corporate culture reflected in words, so too, you can have a family culture reflected in words as well.
We are a family of 4 introverts living in a small home and it can be a challenge to sometimes have alone time. Somewhere along the way I got wise and when I could foresee little periods (trust me, they don’t happen often) when there is no one else in the house, I got in the habit of doing nothing and just doing what I wanted to (namely, read) in peace and quiet. Also, somewhere along the way my youngest daughter noticed that mommy was not getting much housework done when she was all alone in the house. She started to maximize her time as well the rare times when she was alone. She started calling it, “juicing” her schedule. It was our little secret term for nearly a year.
Eventually my husband and other daughter got wind of it. They started to look for opportunities as well to have peace and quiet around the house and eventually we started using another term, “counter scheduling”. This term is even more proactive than “juicing” your schedule as you take a keen interest of other peoples’ activities in the family and then you plan your schedule so you are more likely home during that time. For instance, you would never, never book a routine doctor’s exam if you thought everyone had plans for the day. Done right, counter scheduling increases the number of times you are actually alone in the house. “Juicing” on the other hand, is you only realize that day that a free window exists. See the difference?
I am not too worried yet about what this means regarding our family culture that we all crave time to be alone in the house. However, if we ever get to a few dozen words with nuances for each (like the Inuit for snow), then I guess it will be time for some family therapy.
Now if you’ll excuse me. I have an African mint tea spiked with Grand Marnier with a touch of maple syrup. I have an unfinished Lionel Shriver book next to it. It will be at least 30 minutes before my oldest walks in the door from her job. I believe I have some juicing to do.