smotherhood

A couple of nights ago I was typing an email to Ashley and accidentally typed "smotherhood" instead of motherhood. When I noticed it, I couldn't stop laughing! Is this a Freudian slip? I think I'm coining a new term here, folks. Let's see, I guess it would mean: n. the state of a mother feeling somewhat smothered by her children's needs. All mothers feel like that at times, but certainly not always, so it has to be different from just motherhood. What do you think?

I've been ruminating about this and it's got me thinking about my lifelong love of words. I've always loved reading and so I had a pretty good vocabulary at a pretty young age. I can remember sitting at my grandma's kitchen counter winding a ball of yarn (I liked to crochet) and telling my Aunt Patti that it was variegated. Or playing with my little brother's new Spiderman doll -- squeezing his head and saying he was clairvoyant. (And, yes, before you ask, other kids did make fun of me. When I was in elementary school, I consciously limited my vocabulary so as to avoid the teasing. But that's neither here nor there.) Max is much the same way and I love to see the words he uses in his writing and in conversation. Fortunately, because of the class he's in now, he doesn't have to worry about limiting himself.

Whether I'm reading or just listening to someone talk, I feel a little giddy when someone uses a word that I particularly like. (I realize I'm revealing a somewhat strange idiosyncrasy here. BTW idiosyncrasy is one of my favorite words!) To me, it's just one of the pleasures of reading and good conversation. For example, I was talking to Marc last night and he used the word attrition. That is such a good word, and it doesn't come up that often. On the news last night, I heard someone say "pejorative". Also one of my favorite words. So, tell me, do you feel the same way about words, or am I just out there on my own here? If you do have favorites, lay them on me. And, hey, do you think smotherhood will catch on?