Funny Parenting Concepts

Ayn Rand said that concepts represent, "condensations of knowledge, which make further study and the division of cognitive labor possible."  (Ayn Rand, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology)  We form concepts so that we can hold an unlimited number of concretes as one unit in our minds:

In any given moment, concepts enable man to hold in the focus of his conscious awareness much more than his purely perceptual capacity would permit. The range of man’s perceptual awareness—the number of percepts he can deal with at any one time—is limited. He may be able to visualize four or five units—as, for instance, five trees. He cannot visualize a hundred trees or a distance of ten light-years. It is only his conceptual faculty that makes it possible for him to deal with knowledge of that kind.

Ayn Rand, “The Psycho-Epistemology of Art,” The Romantic Manifesto

In every field, there are concepts called, "terms of art."  These are concepts necessary in that field, but not to the public at large.  Lawyers have a million of them.  In parenting, there are some shared terms of art, but I have the sense that many families make up their own.  A bit of humor is almost always part of the mix.  It's no different with us.  Adam and I have two favorite made-up concepts, both of which are acronyms:  TOOMA and LWEA (pronounced la-wee-ya).

TOOMA is "theorizing-out-of-my-ass," and we made it up when Sam was a tiny baby, when we found that we were going off the deep end with "maybe's" about why she was doing anything other than being a blob.  "Why is she making those bubbles?  Maybe she is teething.  Maybe she is congested. Maybe she is autistic.  Ah, shit, I'm TOOMA-ing again!"

LWEA is a more recent development.  It stands for "leave-well-enough-alone," and although this seems like a simple idea, we've found that having a distinct concept helps a lot, and that it's slightly different than the common phrase.  I find that quite often I want to ask Sam questions, or show her something interesting, or see how she might handle something, so I interrupt what she is doing to ask, show, or give.  But when she is busy with something, I should really leave her alone.  It's better for her not to be interrupted, and when she is happily occupied, the selfish thing to do is to leave her alone and do something for myself!  "Hey Sam. Hey!  Do you want to see this video of a whale on YouTube?  Sam?  Hello?  Ah, shit, LWEA!"

What are your unique parenting concepts?