Family Secret Code Words

I can't remember the exact age my children were when we began using the secret code words.  I know my oldest son was about 7 or 8 years old and I remember when we first realized we needed to have a special word for him to use.

It was right at the beginning of the school year, and our son was learning about "Stranger Danger".  Who to talk to if you get lost in the grocery store, what to do if a stranger offers you candy or scares you and other important information our little kids at this age, should know anyway.  It was great to have what we had taught our child at home, reinforced at school.  Josh would come home and tell us about what he had learned and that lead into great family discussions where we could be more specific.  


I have always made it a point to make sure my children understood that most "Bad Guys" don't look like monsters or the bad guys on TV.  Unfortunately, the scariest and most dangerous people are usually friends or family members.  It's a sad fact of life - especially in my own life - so it was imperative to teach my kids to trust that still small voice when it whispers to them that something is not right.  On this particular day, we were talking about getting in a car with someone they didn't know.  My little 7 year old had no problem telling his father and I all the things he could say or do if offered such a car ride.  He acted out ninja and wrestling moves he was apparently skilled and prepared enough to use.  (If someone had told me then that he would grow up to be a police officer, I would have been worried about my "Officer Jackie Chan" defending the public)

So I asked him, "Okay Josh, what if  one of your uncle's came by to pick you up from school?  Would you go with him?"  His reply was yes.  "Okay, what if one of mom or dad's friends said that we had sent him to to pick you up?"... again, the answer was yes.  "Now, how do you know for sure that they are telling the truth?  How would you know if we really sent them?"  His reply was, "Ninja's can tell when bad guys are lying."   And with that, we devised the first Haskell secret code.   And we have been using  code words ever since.  


Code Word #1  - *TEMPLE 

When anyone showed up unexpectedly, offering a ride or anything involving getting in a car, ask if your parents sent them.  If they say no, don't get in the car.  If they say yes, ask them for the password.  If they don't know the password, don't get in the car.   (yes Josh, even if it is a Porsche)   If they say anything at all except for the word temple, you are to decline the offer and quickly walk away.  Over the past 20 years each one of my children has used the code several times.  I've had funny phone calls where I sent my sisters or friends to pick up my children only to get a frustrated but amused phone call saying, "For heaven's sake!  Would you please give me the code word so they will get in the car?!"

Code Word #2 - *POPCORN

The need for this word arose from trying to find a way to tell a female family member that her shirt was a bit to tight,  revealing or has slid down so that her boob's are bursting out for the world to see.  I just throw a random sentence out like, "I'm so glad you invited us for dinner".......(notice my sister has a button undone, boobs falling out of her shirt) "But you know what sounds yummy?  POPCORN...Lots of POPCORN."  Works like a charm unless we are at the movies.  Then its just a mess. Funny, but a mess.  The mere mention of popcorn makes us instinctively grab our shirts in a panic.  And people say popcorn a lot at the movies.

Code Word #3 - When referring to sex, the word is **YAHTZEE.  When we wanted to talk about grown up things, but our kids were around we would simply say, "You wont believe what happened a few nights ago when we were playing Yahtzee.  He literally caught the bed on fire!"  (true story)  I think most of my friends and family know our code and still use it but things took a terrible turn when at long last our teenage children figured out what we were really saying.  

One day,  when I was Christmas shopping , I received a picture & a text from my two older kids who were on the other side of the store.  They had found the game Yahtzee.   I received another picture and then another after that and by the time they had sent me the last picture, I could hear them laughing from the opposite end of the store. 

What's so funny about Yahtzee? My kids were going to purchase a game as a gift and wanted to know which one I liked.   Just like the word it stands in for, there are many ways to play Yahtzee!  There is Word Yahtzee, Travel Yahtzee, Triple Yahtzee, Hand Held Yahtzee, Challenge Yahtzee, and  Yahtzee Deluxe!   Yahtzee Flash, Halloween Yahtzee, Power Yahtzee,  Turbo Yahtzee.  There is Toy Story, Sponge Bob,  a Muppet version and you can play online if you'd like.  You can even play instant or mini   The endless jokes and innuendos make it way to fun to ever change this code word.   

Code #4 -  AFRICA   One of our most used words was made up by accident but it has been vital in many ways.  We have a word that basically means something is wrong and we need to leave or get away. My kids say this word when a family gathering gets boring or if  they want to leave.   A few years ago my daughter was on a date that went bad.  Real Bad.  I had called her to ask a quick question when out of no where she said, "Mom, can you print out my essay about Africa?"  All I said was "Where are you, I'm on my way."  

I bet our family has 50+ code words that we regularly use.  Some are important and some are just for fun. Does every family have code words?  

**This post was brought to you by the new romantic comedy "I thought I was going to play Yahtzee but I ended up playing RISK".   Staring U. Didme Wrong and Ima Jerk. 
*Code names may or may not have been changed to protect the integrity of the Haskell Family Code.  Long live the code!  

I can't remember the exact age my children were when we began using the secret code words.  I know my oldest son was about 7 or 8 years old and I remember when we first realized we needed to have a special word for him to use.

It was right at the beginning of the school year, and our son was learning about "Stranger Danger".  Who to talk to if you get lost in the grocery store, what to do if a stranger offers you candy or scares you and other important information our little kids at this age, should know anyway.  It was great to have what we had taught our child at home, reinforced at school.  Josh would come home and tell us about what he had learned and that lead into great family discussions where we could be more specific.  


I have always made it a point to make sure my children understood that most "Bad Guys" don't look like monsters or the bad guys on TV.  Unfortunately, the scariest and most dangerous people are usually friends or family members.  It's a sad fact of life - especially in my own life - so it was imperative to teach my kids to trust that still small voice when it whispers to them that something is not right.  On this particular day, we were talking about getting in a car with someone they didn't know.  My little 7 year old had no problem telling his father and I all the things he could say or do if offered such a car ride.  He acted out ninja and wrestling moves he was apparently skilled and prepared enough to use.  (If someone had told me then that he would grow up to be a police officer, I would have been worried about my "Officer Jackie Chan" defending the public)

So I asked him, "Okay Josh, what if  one of your uncle's came by to pick you up from school?  Would you go with him?"  His reply was yes.  "Okay, what if one of mom or dad's friends said that we had sent him to to pick you up?"... again, the answer was yes.  "Now, how do you know for sure that they are telling the truth?  How would you know if we really sent them?"  His reply was, "Ninja's can tell when bad guys are lying."   And with that, we devised the first Haskell secret code.   And we have been using  code words ever since.  


Code Word #1  - *TEMPLE 

When anyone showed up unexpectedly, offering a ride or anything involving getting in a car, ask if your parents sent them.  If they say no, don't get in the car.  If they say yes, ask them for the password.  If they don't know the password, don't get in the car.   (yes Josh, even if it is a Porsche)   If they say anything at all except for the word temple, you are to decline the offer and quickly walk away.  Over the past 20 years each one of my children has used the code several times.  I've had funny phone calls where I sent my sisters or friends to pick up my children only to get a frustrated but amused phone call saying, "For heaven's sake!  Would you please give me the code word so they will get in the car?!"

Code Word #2 - *POPCORN

The need for this word arose from trying to find a way to tell a female family member that her shirt was a bit to tight,  revealing or has slid down so that her boob's are bursting out for the world to see.  I just throw a random sentence out like, "I'm so glad you invited us for dinner".......(notice my sister has a button undone, boobs falling out of her shirt) "But you know what sounds yummy?  POPCORN...Lots of POPCORN."  Works like a charm unless we are at the movies.  Then its just a mess. Funny, but a mess.  The mere mention of popcorn makes us instinctively grab our shirts in a panic.  And people say popcorn a lot at the movies.

Code Word #3 - When referring to sex, the word is **YAHTZEE.  When we wanted to talk about grown up things, but our kids were around we would simply say, "You wont believe what happened a few nights ago when we were playing Yahtzee.  He literally caught the bed on fire!"  (true story)  I think most of my friends and family know our code and still use it but things took a terrible turn when at long last our teenage children figured out what we were really saying.  

One day,  when I was Christmas shopping , I received a picture & a text from my two older kids who were on the other side of the store.  They had found the game Yahtzee.   I received another picture and then another after that and by the time they had sent me the last picture, I could hear them laughing from the opposite end of the store. 

What's so funny about Yahtzee? My kids were going to purchase a game as a gift and wanted to know which one I liked.   Just like the word it stands in for, there are many ways to play Yahtzee!  There is Word Yahtzee, Travel Yahtzee, Triple Yahtzee, Hand Held Yahtzee, Challenge Yahtzee, and  Yahtzee Deluxe!   Yahtzee Flash, Halloween Yahtzee, Power Yahtzee,  Turbo Yahtzee.  There is Toy Story, Sponge Bob,  a Muppet version and you can play online if you'd like.  You can even play instant or mini   The endless jokes and innuendos make it way to fun to ever change this code word.   

Code #4 -  AFRICA   One of our most used words was made up by accident but it has been vital in many ways.  We have a word that basically means something is wrong and we need to leave or get away. My kids say this word when a family gathering gets boring or if  they want to leave.   A few years ago my daughter was on a date that went bad.  Real Bad.  I had called her to ask a quick question when out of no where she said, "Mom, can you print out my essay about Africa?"  All I said was "Where are you, I'm on my way."  

I bet our family has 50+ code words that we regularly use.  Some are important and some are just for fun. Does every family have code words?  

**This post was brought to you by the new romantic comedy "I thought I was going to play Yahtzee but I ended up playing RISK".   Staring U. Didme Wrong and Ima Jerk. 
*Code names may or may not have been changed to protect the integrity of the Haskell Family Code.  Long live the code!