A new word!

In which I share a neologism I think we all should use

I was listening to a podcast recently in which the host kept using a word I hadn’t heard before.

“Ex-strenuous.”

At first I thought the host was just mispronouncing “extraneous.” But then I paid attention to the context. The word consistently described situations where teachers had to do extra stuff that caused stress in their lives. That’s when I realized I was hearing a new, quite useful adjective.

Even though I’m pretty sure the host was in fact mispronouncing “extraneous.”

But don’t you love it? Doesn’t it just capture so much of what makes teaching and parenting and what all else difficult these days? The extra asks that make life so much more stressful?

• filling out forms

• writing sub plans

• sending frickin’ brownies to school (or camp)

• making small talk when you’re already late for something

• attending students’ games and plays and concerts

Clearly the brownies gig is one of my pet exstrenuous asks. And small talk — hate it! What are yours? And what can we do to cut the exstrenuous out of our lives as much as possible?

Here’s my tactic: Just say NO. Or don’t step up in the first place. Choose the things you have to do (filling out incomprehensible forms and writing sub plans are probably non-negotiable) and skip out on the rest. Teach yourself to stop caring what other people think.

Or maybe that’s too simplistic? Let me know how you deal with the exstrenuous in your life. We can all benefit from each other’s wisdom!