Let's Talk Teenage Jargon

Shway.

Jargon among teenagers cracks me up. It’s so catchy – even if you don’t necessarily know exactly what the heck the latest slang term means, you have to admire the teenagers who are creating meaningful words and phrases relevant to their ages.

Last weekend I picked up on a couple recent words I overheard my ninth grade daughter using. Shway, as in, “I’m shway out of patience with my little brother.” It’s an easy enough combination of the words “so” and “way,” making a word that sounds much more trendy and useful. I’m trying to incorporate it into the workplace, but I’m not quite sure how it will fly.

The other funny word that struck a chord with me was “socks.” In this case, my daughter and her friends replace the word “boyfriend” with the word “socks” as in “Every girl should bring their socks to the movie.” It makes me laugh because they think they’re talking in code and the parents won’t catch on. Maybe I’m dense, but I caught on quickly.

The whole episode of de-coding “socks” made me think back to my junior high days and how the girls would use the periodic chart of elements to talk in code. For example “NA” referred to sodium on the element chart. But in a hallway conversation, if you heard a girl say “Sodium” or “NA” you knew they were talking about someone’s butt. Both terms meant, “nice ass.” Clever.

Birth Days Remembered
Monday, April 24 prompted me to think back on the days my kids were born. January 5 and May 11. Those days are very relevant in my life because they marked occasions that we as parents/parents to be only experience once or twice in a lifetime. Birth days should be celebrated!

When Kayla, my oldest was born, I was ecstatic. The doctor had guessed Kayla to be a boy all along and while I would have been fine with a boy, I was hoping for a girl. I wanted a daughter. My wish was granted and Kayla has been THE best daughter. She’s 15 today and very “me” centric, but that’s okay. Her level thinking, common sense and intelligence is something I admire for a kid her age. She already has accomplished way more than I did at that age. Seeing her in a play, in the choir or just interacting with her brother makes me proud to be her father. She’s a real light in my life.

And Evan. When he was born and I realized I would have both a daughter AND a son to share lives with I wondered how on earth I could ever top that feeling. (As an aside the feeling has been topped thanks to recent events in 2005 and 2006, but in different ways.) Evan is unique in his boyhood in that he shows his emotion and his love openly. He’s not lured by his friends to be “tough” or to hide how he’s feeling and because he’s maturing with that philosophy, I know in my heart that he’ll make a woman very happy someday.

Together, my two kids bring me tremendous joy and pride. Sure, they can be menacing little pests at times. They can be selfish and crude and spiteful and hateful. But those rare moments are forgotten when they finish a phone call with, “love you dad” or when they help make dinner because they want to spend time with me.

Then yesterday, Monday, April 24, a rush of the excitement of my kids’ own birth days swooped through my body – caused by other events. The feeling paused me to smile and remember what their first days in the world were like. I’m thankful I was there on those days, an active participant. I’ll always be there for Kayla and Evan – as their father and their friend.

They’re shway important to me.

-end-