I Guess I Need to Work on My Enunciation?

I carry Dum Dum lollipops around wherever I go. Those little suckers are magic. They keep my little ones happy and cooperative (which makes Mommy happy too). Yesterday I took both girls to get their hair cut. I was so pleased with their behavior and politeness. I told them so as I strapped them into their respective car seats and dug into my coat pocket for the lollipop stash. I handed one to Angela and then held out several for Alice so she could make her choice.

Alice looked them over carefully and happily held one up for my inspection. “Look, Mommy, bananas and ice cream.”

I glanced at the wrapper. “Yes, honey. They call that flavor ‘banana split’.”

Alice looked at me quizzically and in her most serious tone informed me, “Mommy, spitting isn’t nice.”

Apparently, clear speech is no longer one of my strong suits. Oh well…

Grammar Lessons

Every week Alice’s school distributes a letter outlining their plans for the week. It includes what songs they are going to sing, what books they are going to read, and what concepts they are going to work on during circle time. Alice held onto the handout while I drove home. Apparently, she is learning about the comma from her teachers because she kept commenting when she saw one on the paper. The former teacher in me saw a “teachable moment” here.



“Alice, did you know that a comma with a dot on top of it is called a semicolon?” I asked her.

“No, it’s not,” Alice informed me.


I was a little taken aback, but I persisted. “Yes, Alice, it is.”


“No, it’s not.”


I decided against going into a long dissertation about my teaching and education qualifications. Instead, I asked, “Well, then what is it?”


“It’s an ‘I’.”


Oy….