A few weeks ago my oldest daughter gave us all a lesson in compound words at the dinner table. After explaining just what they were and giving us all some examples (base-ball, snow-flake, pin-wheel), my four-year-old decided to try her hand at a few.
"Noodle!" she cried, "That's one."
"Um, sweetie, not really..." I started.
"Yes it is, Mom! New, like not old, and dull, like booooring," she poked her chin up in the air, quite proud of herself. I was very impressed and decided to let her bask in her intellect rather than correcting her. My oldest, however, had no such instinct.
"That's not how it's spelled. Noodle is NOT a compound word," she spat out in that condescending way only a big sister can manage when she is talking to her younger sibling.
"Yeah, well I think you're a big poopyhead. Hey, that's a compound word, poopyhead!" now she was even more proud. I couldn't resist laughing which unfortunately sealed our fate for the rest of the evening.
"Bonehead," she popped up from her spot on the floor as she was coloring to announce, "That's one, too."
She continued to add to the list until it was time for bed. As I gently prodded her on toward jammies and brushing teeth, she continued to pepper me with her newfound cleverness.
"Mommy, you're a meaniepants. A stinkybutt. A chickenbrain," I tucked the covers around her, switched off her lamp, kissed her cheek and headed out the door.
"Goodnight, bonehead Mommy!" she called down the hall, chuckling to herself.
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3 comments:
I think as long as she keeps it to those, you're safe. It's when she learns more .. colorful words.. like.. um.. from me, by accident of course.
I don't have kids, but this is hilarious. Er, I mean funny (get it? fun-knee). Hmm...priceless?
No worries, Jenny. Having biological children is not a necessity. An inner child? A friend's child? Neices, nephews?
I figured a writer could best appreciate the grammar lesson. I passed your examples on - she approves.
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