Hereinbelow follow sundry anecdotes centering around language (and a little bit of weather).
***
When BSM was home sick a while ago, I taught him what his class had learned in chumash that day. We read the psukim, and I explained them as needed. When we got to the part where Yaakov sets up a matzeva after his dream, I started to explain that a matzeva is like a mizbeach [alter] made from only one stone, but BSM interrupted me, "Yeah, like when someone dies! And they put a big rock on his kever [grave]." Right. I never realized that it was exactly the same word. Once he pointed it out, it's obvious that a matzeva is easily translated as monument, and once I have the word monument, a matzeva is more literally a standing stone. (And now that I've found that link, it turns out that Wikipedia already knew that a matzeva is a standing stone. Well, don't I feel less clever now.)
***
When we came back from America (mazel tov, Piano Toes and your missus!), we were a wee bit tired upon our arrival. So as soon as we got home, we dumped our many pieces of luggage in our house's entrance and dining room, each ate a sandwich, and all took naps. When we awoke blessed hours later and came back downstairs, FF took one look at the room (or what little he could see of it under the piles of luggage everywhere) and said, "It's תוהו ובוהו!" Yes, that mess was bad enough to warrant a name a bit stronger than "mess" or "balegan", but c'mon man, the primal chaos from the beginning of creation?! It wasn't that bad... Right?
***
The other night, BSM was playing with the timer on my phone and discovered that he can access alternate alarm sounds from the app. "Summer Rain," he read proudly, and then promptly cracked up. "Summer rain?! What???" So I explained that in some places it rains in the summer, and yes, it sounds just like regular winter rain.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Monday, February 17, 2020
Sharing
FF came home from gan a few days ago with a special Tu B'Shvat cupcake. (He insists on calling the holdiay Too Bee B'Shabbat, which drives me nuts, but that's besides the point.) It was a white cupcake topped with chocolate syrup, green sprinkles, and three toothpicks, each holding three pink mini-marshmallows. All in all, a very cute and age-appropriate little flower arrangement.
Giving me all the nachas, FF entered the house and declared: "This is my cupcake from gan to share with BSM!" Impressively, he didn't eat the cupcake before BSM came home.
Once BSM arrived, FF took off the paper and asked me to cut the cupcake. Having learned a thing or two about assumptions and preschoolers, I rested the knife on the top of the cupcake and without cutting, asked, "Do you want me to cut the cupcake like this?"
Naturally, FF said no. So I rotated the cupcake by about 45 degrees, again rested the knife on top, and again asked. Again, the answer was no. FF, being a clever child, didn't let me get all the way around the cupcake before setting me straight: pointing to a spot about halfway down the cupcake, he said, "Like this."
So I verified that FF wanted me to cut the cupcake around its equator, explained that I would give BSM chocolate syrup and sprinkles on his half, too, and cut the cupcake so FF got the entire top half.
BSM, bless him, thought it was funny instead of heartbreaking, and still thought it was funny when he pointed to the marshmallow sticks and asked for one, and FF very generously gave him one marshmallow.
I'm so proud of my kids.
Giving me all the nachas, FF entered the house and declared: "This is my cupcake from gan to share with BSM!" Impressively, he didn't eat the cupcake before BSM came home.
Once BSM arrived, FF took off the paper and asked me to cut the cupcake. Having learned a thing or two about assumptions and preschoolers, I rested the knife on the top of the cupcake and without cutting, asked, "Do you want me to cut the cupcake like this?"
Naturally, FF said no. So I rotated the cupcake by about 45 degrees, again rested the knife on top, and again asked. Again, the answer was no. FF, being a clever child, didn't let me get all the way around the cupcake before setting me straight: pointing to a spot about halfway down the cupcake, he said, "Like this."
So I verified that FF wanted me to cut the cupcake around its equator, explained that I would give BSM chocolate syrup and sprinkles on his half, too, and cut the cupcake so FF got the entire top half.
BSM, bless him, thought it was funny instead of heartbreaking, and still thought it was funny when he pointed to the marshmallow sticks and asked for one, and FF very generously gave him one marshmallow.
I'm so proud of my kids.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Truth
FF was out of sorts recently after his nap, so I got him excited by talking about the soup we'd have for dinner.
"We'll have some soup for dinner!" I opened. "Doesn't that sound yummy?"
Face brightening, FF said, "Yeah!"
"Do you know what's in soup? Do you want to guess?" I continued.
Now palpably excited, FF held his thumb and forefinger slightly apart, "Little things...."
Laughing, I asked, "Soup nuts? Little yellow crunchy things?"
"Yes!!! Soup nuts in soup!!!"
My next question, "What else is in soup?" brought only a blank look, so I told him about the actual soup ingredients and thought of the ad Husbinator told me about earlier this soup season:
"Do you know what's in soup? Do you want to guess?" I continued.
Now palpably excited, FF held his thumb and forefinger slightly apart, "Little things...."
Laughing, I asked, "Soup nuts? Little yellow crunchy things?"
"Yes!!! Soup nuts in soup!!!"
My next question, "What else is in soup?" brought only a blank look, so I told him about the actual soup ingredients and thought of the ad Husbinator told me about earlier this soup season:
Osem is right: sometimes the soup is just an excuse.
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