callow -- Todd, Isabella, Jack, Sam, Willie

cal·low   (kl) adj. Lacking adult maturity or experience; immature: a callow young man. [Middle English calwe, bald, from Old English calu.] callow·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Todd, now a middle-aged man of experience, guides his callow sons: (his daughter Isabella was never callow; she was born with the wisdom of the ages.)

bromide -- Sister Jen

bro·mide  (brmd) n. 1. a. A binary compound of bromine with another element, such as silver. b. Potassium bromide. 2. a. A commonplace remark or notion; a platitude. See Synonyms at cliché. b. A tiresome person; a bore.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published byHoughton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Sister Jen is an original thinker who has little patience with bromides. 

agonal -- LIttle Brother Matt

ag·o·nal  (g-nl) adj. Associated with or relating to great pain, especially the agony of death.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

I hated seeing Little Brother Matt's agonal lethargy as he prepared for his dog Stella's death.

lugubrious -- Kristin and Little Brother Matt

lu·gu·bri·ous (l-gbr-s, -gy-) adj. Mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree. [From Latin lgubris, from lgre, to mourn.] lu·gubri·ous·ly adv. lu·gubri·ous·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Kristin and Little Brother Matt like to laugh and do not engender a lugubrious mood in their home.

pheromone -- Isabella, Jack, Sam, Willie, Hayden

pher·o·mone  (fr-mn) n. A chemical secreted by an animal, especially an insect, that influences the behavior or development of others of the same species, often functioning as an attractant of the opposite sex. [Greek pherein, to carry; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots + (hor)mone.] phero·monal adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

My teenage niece and nephews are not bugs but have reached the ages when their pheromones are in full function.

dilatory -- Lucie and Gretchen

dil·a·to·ry  (dl-tôr, -tr) adj. 1. Intended to delay. 2. Tending to postpone or delay: dilatory in his work habits. See Synonyms at slow. [Middle English dilatorie, from Latin dltrius, from dltor, delayer, from dltus, past participle of differre, to delay : d-, dis-, apart; see dis- + ltus, carried; see tel- in Indo-European roots.] dila·tori·ly adv. dila·tori·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

 

Lucie and Gretchen like a party, so they've developed techniques for staying at a party when their parents think it's time for them to go to bed.