You say tomato, we say…
Linguistics sucks. It’s a hard subject to get a grasp on, there are so many rules to follow and double meanings and proper use and slang, even some adults have a hard time, but listening to kids try to master the topic is pure entertainment!
While my five year-old was eating his lunch, which consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich and a side of cherry tomatoes, I was picking up the kitchen. Just as excited as could be I heard Azul proclaim, “Look what I invented — Suck Balls!”
WHAT?! was my immediate thought, well a lot of things went through my head at that moment, so I looked up to see what he was talking about.
“See,” he said holding up a cherry tomato with a small bite off the top. He proceeded to put the tomato against his puckered lips and suck the juice out while squeezing it, then he popped the whole thing in his mouth and ate it.
Once he was done with this display of his new invention he said, “You suck all the juice out and then eat it. Suck Balls!”
“Try it,” he said handing me a tomato. And on his insistence I tried it and it was good, and fun! We finished the Suck Balls together.
I don’t think so.
Today was a beautiful day, and to celebrate, Azul and I took the car to the car wash and washed it. He likes riding through the tunnel of soap and revolving brushes, screaming when the rinse water sprays us for the last time, imagining we are being shot by enemies in space. Then we pull out of the wounded darkness and vacuum the floors and seats, Azul likes having his own nozzle and sucking up his pant leg instead of the cookie crumbs and random pieces of whatever happens to be stuck to the back seat. When we’re done, we cruise!
There is really nothing cooler than cruising in a clean car and listening to music on a nice day. And to bring back the nostalgia of my youth and cruising (you know, when your car was all you had and your most pressing issues were getting gas and cleaning your car), we were listening to old school music. Although my five year-old was sitting in his booster chair in the back seat cruising with me, instead a car full of friends, I still felt pretty cool! And then to make it even cooler, guess what song came up? Well, in an instant, we were “Going back to Cali,” with LL Cool J!
Oblivious to the lyrics I listened to millions of times over the years, instead I heard Azul, who was singing along even though this was the first time he heard this song, speak up from the back seat. “He said ‘beach’ and ‘peach,’ those rhyme!” I started to laugh and then stopped for a split second to think about the words we were singing and then laughed some more. With a shrug and an “Oh, well,” in my usual encouraging tone, I said “You’re right they do rhyme.”
The song continued in the background and Azul started to laugh again and said, “He said suntan lotion!”
Oh, we were rolling hard! And loving it!
College Bound
“Is college after kindergarten?” was the question I heard from the back seat of the car while we were driving through the campus at the University of New Mexico. I take him there often; to feed the ducks at the duck pond, to go to swim class and to attend different events they host throughout the year. Today we are here for a Star Wars display. “No,” I answered with a small laugh of encouragement, so he could finish his thought.
The next question from my five year-old, as we drove past the dorms, “Are those hotel rooms?” I said, “Kind of, they are called dorms and that is where the college students live. They are more like little apartments. Daddy lived in these dorms when he went to school here.”
He continued, “The greatest thing about college is you get to stay up as long as you want. I’m going to stay up and watch TV on my phone.”
“Yeah?” Letting him continue.
“At the dooms, they know you get uncomfortable with girls, so girls have girl roommates and boys have boy roommates.” I responded, “You’re right! Boys live with boys and girls live with girls.” I didn’t correct his “doom” instead of “dorm” talk — I thought it was cute, and really, a more accurate description of life in the dorms.
“Do you get breakfast, lunch and dinner in college?” he asked, his thoughts turning to food. “Yes,” I answered. “You can eat in the cafeteria when you go to college.”
He was on a roll with the college talk. “The good thing about college is you can do what you want after school. You can just roll around outside or go to your doom.”
“Yeah, you have a lot of freedom to do want you want.” I continued to explain who went to college in our family, and who had Bachelor, Graduate and Doctorate degrees.
“I’m going to get one! After Pre-school I’m going to start practicing instead of playing!”
Trying to talk him down a little bit, I looked at him in the rear view mirror and gave him a little wink and said, “Don’t worry you have plenty of time.”
Now, Revenge of the Sixth!
Carmelina Hart 