The Four Letter Word I Am Removing from My Vocabulary

When my husband and I had our first child several years ago, we quickly realized that there were a couple four letter words we needed to immediately remove from our vocabulary. I don’t need to list them, as I’m sure you are smart enough to figure them out. There’s another one however, that is still creeping around, that I don’t want to pass on to my kids.

“What do you do?”

“Oh, I’m just a mom.”

“I just want him to take a nap.”

“Just let me finish this first, and then we can play.”

J-U-S-T

It’s a small word, and one we all use all the time. In fact, you’ve probably said it already today. However, “just” can be very limiting. It can sound like I am settling for something. I am not just a mom, I am also a wife, a daughter, an employee, a volunteer and a friend. I don’t “just” want my kids to take a nap, I want so much more for them. I don’t always need to finish my task before paying attention to my kids, especially when they are asking for me to play with them, or my daughter wants me to watch her dance, or my son wants to explain a picture he drew. This are not “just” little things, to my kids, they can mean everything. Every time I use the word “just,” I am taking something important and making it less. This is certainly not a habit I want to pass on to my kids, same as I would not want to hear them repeating other four letter words. 

I challenge you to listen to yourself today and this week, and hear how many times you use the word “just.” I bet it is a lot more often than you think! Every time you hear yourself say it, stop and examine the context in which you are using that word. Obviously, sometimes “just” is the word we need. But, more often than not, you may realize that you are subconsciously limiting and pigeonholing yourself by using it. Thinking of other ways to phrase things without using “just” can be quite challenging, but I am trying! There is real power in the words we speak, and I want to use that power to benefit both me and my family. 

I am more than “just” a mom. I am more “just” my job. So are you.

Meaghan Koci
Meaghan wears many hats throughout the day: wife to husband of fifteen years, Jeremy, mom to two incredible children, Jacob and Aliza, legal assistant, foster parent, and surrogate. A Wichita native, she met her husband at K-State (Go State!) and they moved from coast (Los Angeles, CA) to coast (Manchester, NH and Groton, CT) before settling back down in Kansas. She is a big fan of her crock pots, has read more than a novel a day for the last five years, and crochets in her “spare” time.