Ever!: The New Exclamatory

Do you ever find yourself saying something to your children like, "Don't ever (fill in the blank) again," with the emphasis on "ever"? Yeah, so do I. Sometimes I even add an extra "ever" on the end to convey the true finality for this particular wrongdoing. So then, perhaps it goes something like this, "Don't ever do that again. Ever."

In another startling realization that my children do actually listen, I have had this little word repeated back to me (and the rest of the family) a lot recently. However, the exact meaning has gotten a bit lost in translation. You see, little Anastasia, in her ever increasing state of drama, has really caught onto this word as a catch-all exclamatory to be used when needing to add emphasis of any kind to any statement, which, when you're two, is every other sentence. For instance, the first words spoken to me this morning were, "They took my box EVER!" Other examples include, "I need milk EVER!" "They made me sad EVER!" and, "Abijawbahnakiwudana EVER!"

I know I'm not helping matters, but sometimes when she comes to tell or ask me something I can't help but ask, "Ever?" just to hear her so sincerely answer, "Yes." I even admit to having fun trying out this new exclamatory in some of my own statements. The nonsensicalness of it really does add great emotional emphasis.

So, next time you're at a loss for just the right thing to say to drive home a point with real passion, give "ever" a try. Anastasia says it works great EVER!