MERIDIAN —    How shall I begin – this househusband primer? Firstly, househusband, not to be confused with stay-at-home-dad, is a real word accepted by all dictionaries, and it is not necessary a brand new word. Each major dictionary has a certain criteria concerning the adding of new words, mostly, they monitor which words people use more often. Their editors spend many hours researching hard print material as well as electronic publications to ascertain the usage of new words – understand the meaning, variant spellings, and if the word is worthy of inclusion in their dictionary.

    As a seasoned writer, I can tell you there is nothing more incredible than thinking up new words. Perhaps I am the only one to use my new word creation, but still, I have hope one day, one wonderful day, my little-word-gem will make it into a dictionary.

     With all of this on my mind this morning, I made a search of a few new words included in the Oxford English Dictionary:

    1. Muggle – inspired by the fiction of J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter series: a person who possesses no magical powers.

    2. Blamestorming – a method of collectively finding one to blame for a mistake no one is willing to confess to.

    3. Threequel – the third film, book, event, etc. in a series.

    4. Screenager – a person in their teens or twenties who is a computer whiz.

    5. Cyberslacking – an employee who spends personal time on the computer provided for work.

    Next I researched Webster’s Dictionary and their list of new words – here are a few:

    1. Aha moment – thanks to Oprah.

    2. Earworm – a song that gets stuck in one’s head.

    3.  Energy drink -- ROCKSTAR or Red Bull

    4. Gassed – tired and drained of energy (thus the need for an energy drink).

    5. Bucket list – a listing of things we want to do before we leave this earth.

    You may read the entire new word list at either Webster’s or Oxford English’s website. However, my research was for the word househusband and I did find a meaning, actually several meanings:

    A househusband is a husband that chooses to stay at home instead of working at a career. The word “househusband” came into use in the 1970s as a joke because many women who worked as homemakers did not want to be called “housewives.”

    Hmm, I might have to create a new word. You see I have a househusband – sort of a retired type househusband. You know – twice-the-husband and half-the-salary. My househusband did not give up a career – he served 32 years employed by the Federal Government, making me not so sure about his training.  Therefore, I started house-husband-training many years ago.  Ladies, one can’t start too early with this endeavor. There is much to teach them – important stuff like loading the dishwasher, washing machine and clothes dryer. Reminding the househusband – just because you’ve “earned” a new title, it doesn’t mean you are relieved of opening the car doors for me that includes all doors, of course. Other good stuff like shopping tips – where to find the freshest veggies, quality meats, best bakery items, plus the best value for the buck. I must say he is a fast-learner in these areas.  

    Oh, there have been a few stumbles, literally. I’ve always said that my husband could “kick his way through anything.” Sometimes the ability came in handy over the years when I was a tiny bit behind with laundry or housekeeping chores. Now that he has graduated to the status of househusband, there is never a need for him to kick, rather enjoy the opportunities provided by completing the chores.  It’s all good.

    Househusband here, househusband there – so much to do and so little time, therefore I have taught him the art of list-making.  You know there is an art to it. It’s very simple: take a clean sheet of paper and neatly divide into four squares with headings: (1) Grocery (2) Wal-Mart (3) Gas and Post Office (4) Nice surprise for Anne. Yes, it’s all good.

    Another important area of training – CLEANING! I admit this one task has taken more training than all of the others put together. Dust, dust, dust, bleach, bleach, bleach, Pine-Sol, Pine-Sol, Pine-Sol, mop, mop, mop, and when finished – start all over again. He is coming along. I’ve advised that perhaps he might add his new list-making talent as a nifty way to assist with the cleaning. I’m just helpful that way.

    Just one day last week, while we were driving along with nothing particular going on, I began another session of helpful househusband training/advice.  I’ve found that I’ve become an expert. Anyways, I had one of those little pesky canker sores on the edge of my lip; therefore my comments were less than usual. I apologized to my househusband-in-training, because of the limitations of my words and that I couldn’t say as much as I had planned.  He said, “Good!”

    So, all in all, it is going well.  Househusband, 101 – might be the most exciting time of my life.