Nicknames

At some point in the first few years of marriage, my husband started teasing me that his name must be "Let's" -- because I would say things like,

"Let's make sure to pay the rent"
or
"Let's work on weeding the garden"
or
"Let's take the kids to the park."

I wasn't really indicating that we should work *together* on those things but rather was trying to give him instruction but softening it a bit by using "Let's." Apparently, he still understood that I expected him to do those things and it was not an inclusive "let's!"

Later, I noticed that his subconscious "nickname" for me was "Why Don't We" -- because whenever he started a phrase that way, he was actually requesting that I do whatever came after it: 

"Why don't we run the dishwasher every night after dinner?"
"Why don't we teach the kids to put their shoes in the hall closet?"
"Why don't we turn down the air conditioning to save some money?"

We laugh about having these little nicknames for each other and try to be good sports about accepting the directions that are couched in these loving terms that show an effort to try to be considerate of each other's feelings. 

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