You Must "Member" This ...

The fractured English continues, and I can't help but enjoy it.

Every time Thing 1 wants me to recall something we've done together, he says, "Mommy, you member when we ..."

He's lobbying heavily for walkie-talkies, so he piped up with this the other day: "You member Attitcus had walkie-talkines? Kin we get walkie-talkies?" (Atticus, btw, is a little boy, not the character in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, though very possibly named for him.)

His other frequently used mangled English expressions: "I never know that" for "I didn't know that," and "we hadn't done that in long time" for something that's been awhile.

Yesterday he informed me he made Hamentashen -- the traditional Jewish pastry that's made to celebrate Purim -- at school and loved it -- so much so that he gave up his chance at playing ball that day to do so. "Kin we make Hamentashen at home?" he asked. The word "can" never crosses his lips, but "kin" prefaces many a request.

Thing 2 chimed in that she did not eat the Hamentashen. "It was too jammy," she said. "And too strawberry." And though it's not fractured English, she overuses this one: "You're not supposed to." As in, whatever her brother is doing that she doesn't want him to do.


When he wants something really badly, we "havetah" get it, as in, "we havetah git that book at the liberry." (We acquired "liberry cards" this past weekend.) Thanks to the acquisition of a Max & Ruby book with cut-out play money, there has been much discussion of "how many monies" around here, as in, "how many monies" does something cost, usually followed by "kin we get it?" and, after the parental response, "No, it cost too much money," Thing 2 often holds up her fingers and asks, "Ten monies?"

When we listen to OLIVER now, there are questions about the words. "What is 'grouse'?" (as in, "Why grouse," a line from "Consider Yourself.") Thing 1 very astutely noted that "A Little Bit O' Luck" from MY FAIR LADY sounds "like MARY POPPINS music." And accents have been noted too: "Why does Burt talk like that in MARY POPPINS?"

If they see a photo of Barack Obama, they're liable to exuberantly shout, "Barack!" out of the sheer joy of recognition, and then ask, "Where's Michelle?" Earlier in the year there was much questioning over "Which one is Sasha and which one is Malia?" (Took Late Blooming Mom a little while to be able to answer that one right.)

At the superheroes exhibit we recently visited (ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age Of Comic Books @the Skirball Cultural Center), much time was spent in the dress-up area, and there was talk of "Kiptin 'Merica." Somehow when a t-shirt was later procured bearing that character, he had morphed in Thing 1's mind to "King America."

Thing 2 is often concerned with the emotional states and characterizations of people and creatures pictured in the books we read. "Is that a nice monster or a scary monster?" (If it's SESAME STREET, we know it's a nice monster.) "Why is the wolf bad" to the three little pigs? And a feline creature with spots is designated a "cheetah leopard," even though one does not exist in nature. Thing 2 actually requested to have her face painted at school last week in the guise of a "cheetah leopard princess." Apparently this involves whiskers, spots, and a crown.

Best of all are those moments when Thing 1 turns to me at random and says, "Mommy, you're da best!" I much prefer being "da" best to "the best." Dat just seems like more of an honor.