Hey gals! Just curious, but I wanted to ask y'all a question. How many of you had an extensively prolific vocabulary before motherhood? *I will not use the abbreviation BM for obvious reasons* I know I did- had an impressive vocabulary, that is. Do you find yourself well-versed on the topics of sippy cups, baby food, Boppies, breast pumps, etc. now? Following is a perfect illustration of my point.

Not too long ago, Rob and I, along with some other friends, had occasion to eat lunch with a couple of lawyers. Nice folks, these lawyers were, and seemed happy to accomodate our uninformed legal assumptions, questions, and the like. While in the middle of an explanation as to why probate judges, magistrate judges and some superior court judges (in a Good Old Boy society) could "sit the bench" (see, I picked up a thing or two) anyway, could "sit" said bench without a law degree--- I know, I know, excuse me, WHAT???? something inside me snapped. I mean, I was actually struggling to make sense of certain words that ordinarily would have registered around a 10th grade level. What had happened to my brain? Gone was the witty repartee of my pre-mother days. Vanished were the $4, $5 and $10 words that frequently peppered my everyday conversation. Do any of you see the light up "humility" sign in the road here? So I leaned over the table and said to one of the very nice lawyer people- let's call her "Melanie" as that is, actually, her name- "Melanie, I am sorry that I cannot follow this conversation very well. But I promise you, just ask me a question about Huggies v. Pampers, Rice v. Oatmeal, or manual v. mechanical breast pumps and I will truly show myself brilliant."

Needless to say, much laughter followed. After reflection, I realized yet another of God's good gifts to us- our intellect. How kind of Him to make us in such a way that we can, in fact, be knowledgeable about topics important to caring for our children. Please don't hear what I am not saying (thanks to Paul, our pastor, for that favorite caveat). I am not saying we shouldn't pursue excellence in every area of our lives. We should strive to improve our communication skills; after all, we should be communicating with our husbands and not in a baby-like fashion!!

So here's what I propose: let's work on one new word per day- or per post, I should say. They won't be necessarily stellar words, per se, just new words (to some) we can incorporate into our vocabulary. Oh, and, teach them to your children as well.

abrogate: (verb from the Latin ab- away + rogare- to ask) To cancel or repeal by authority

That's all for today gals. Happy New Year! in case I don't post until "next year." Ha! Ha!