I ♥ Grammar Girl!

I know I haven't posted a video in a while, so this isn't cheating.  Plus this is my new favorite!  And frankly, I prefer these lyrics set to a groovy tune MUCH better than the original.



You're welcome.  Hey, Hey, Hey.

Words to Fit the Season

Did you know that there are certain words that aptly apply in weather like we are having lately?  I especially appreciate these seasonal word when I'm at work and stand up from my black uphostered chair only to discover tha tI have several of these:

SWACK= sweaty back

SWOOBS=sweaty boobs

SWOTCH=sweaty crotch

SWECK=sweaty neck

SWITS=sweaty pits

Now that you know these words too, you might recognize them when the weather gets to hovering around 100 for about a week.

You're welcome.

Sins Of The Mother

Recently I have been more and more grateful that my kid are fat better people than I was at their ages.  not just better students--The Girl surpasses all my academic goals.  Ever.  And The Boy eclipses my social comfort boundaries by far.  But lately, I am grateful for their efforts to use good language and speak kindly.  They may not think using these standards, but I don't hear them say things that offend, so that works for me.

There are just a few word that I know I used as a teen that are demoralizing and grating when I hear them now. And lest you think I had a total potty mouth, I didn't swear, but I chose words that now have no place in polite conversation.  Maybe that is my own maturity.  Perhaps it is society's shift to what is acceptable.  Maybe both.

The words I'm talking about are words like "retard", "queer", "fag", "bitching", and "gay".  When I used words like these, back in the day, it was part of our daily vocabulary.  From a language with endless adjectives, we chose to regularly use these kind of words.  The 80s had a lot of good points, as I grew up, but word choice wasn't one of them.

On rare occasions now I hear one or two of these and it makes me wince.  Sadly, these are words that have regular, appropriate meanings but we as a society have pushes those out as old fashioned and archaic so that the original definitions are hardly recognizable any more.

So, for anyone one who knew me then, and heard me use those kinds of words, may I just apologize?  Sincerely?  I was young and stupid and frankly I didn't even think they were that bad.  But I know better now and I genuinely try to do better.  Every day.

For those of you who know me now, please excuse my behavior of the past.  I did learn the lessons that came with those poor choices then.  And I commit to doing better and raising my kids to do even better than that.

I'm not even sure what triggered this topic in my ind, but it has rested on me for a couple days.  And I needed to get it off my chest.  Or lips, as the case may be.

Bilingual Regret

Yesterday I went to the temple and as I was finishing up and preparing to head out to the car, I noticed the little temple ladies all in a dither about something. Not like it was a medical emergency, but you could just tell something was not right. Then I noticed a little Hispanic lady in a wheelchair in the middle of everything.

These little temple ladies had no more Espanol on their tongue than "Hermana" so I leaned down to her and asked, in Spanish, if I could help. Immediately a lightening fast string of words, phrases, and relief issued forth.

But she was quite elderly and not in good health, and consequently I heard a lot of mumbling and some slurred words that I did recognize and many more than I did not.

I asked her, in my very rusty and slightly broken Spanish, to please slow down and I apologized for my lack of instantaneous vocabulary. She just smiled at me.

Finally, after some gesticulating and many repetitions I figured out that she needed to find a phone to call her daughter who was to pick her up. So we did that.

We finally got an outside line and she placed her call. Again she smiled at me.

More gesturing, repetitions, and my pleading for her to slow way down, I got the message that she needed to be wheeled outside to the driveway where her daughter would be coming to collect her.

As I was parking her in the shade, I believe I understood her enough to think she told me that she was visiting her daughter but in her home country she lives 14 hours away from the temple and how glad she was that there was one right close by for her to attend while she was here.

At this point she asked me where I learned my Spanish, and I told her, "In school, a very long time ago." She smiled again.

Then, feeling like I would probably be understood better than I thought, I told her that in the temple we are all friends, we are family. She replied that she was grateful for so many who try to help her here and she thanked me again and again, calling me "lindo" or nice.

She assured me, at least that is what I understood, that her daughter would be there in a few minutes, and that I was good to head home to wait for my children when they got out of school. So I left her there in the shade, waiting for her daughter.

Makes me super anxious that I should know this other language better. And I know I need more practice to help someone in just this kind of situation. Perhaps a refresher class is on my horizon.

Cinco de Mayo y Espanol

The Girl is taking Spanish 2 this year at school. She is registered to take what is essentially Spanish 3 in the fall, but it will also count toward her beginning Spanish for college--it is a concurrent enrollment class.

Thinking about making tacos for dinner today, as that is as much fiesta as I will plan, it made me smile recalling the random Spanish she has been throwing at us in her daily conversation.

For example, one day last week she was tell The Boy that his camisa (shirt) was dirty. Or at the dinner table she will ask for the leche, por favor (milk, please).

It cracks me up especially since I have been doing the same thing to the kids since they were small--only I give them commands in Spanish, so far as I can remember it from college. Escuchame (listen to me), or Vienen Aqui (come here), or Callate (be quiet). And, like Pavlov's dogs, they respond appropriately.

When she throws some random Spanish at us, it just shows me she is thinking in Spanish occasionally, which is great for her learning the language. I just hope she can retain more of it than I have. I wish I had someone to practice with more. The Girl is pretty good at that, but she has much more vocabulary in her head than I have remembered. I have to send her to look things up when she asks what the word for ___ is. Maybe I should take my own advice.

I have tried to teach her the little song Mr. Bryant taught us in my HS Spanish classes. He used it when someone was spacing out and not paying attention. "Where are you? Who are you thinking about?" It is half sing-songy and half lullaby. But it is catchy and still, 20 some years later, I remember it.

So, Felicitades y Bueno Cinco de Mayo, mis amigos.

Another Pet Peeve Vent

I try not to cause a lot of trouble along my way. Generally, there is not a problem, but once in a while I push the limit or cross the line. I also see that as a responsible adult I also can look out for other people's kids.

Today as I walked our carpool kids to school we came upon the kindergarten playground where several kids were already playing, as they waited for the bell to ring. Two children, probably no older than second grade, were playing together and yelling crude names at each other, at the tops of their voices.

I didn't even think about it. I just hollered back at them "Hey, knock it off! I don't want to hear that kind of language on our playground again! Friends do NOT talk to each other like that and those names are not acceptable!"

These two little kids looked at me in total shock. They had completely blank faces on when they turned to look at me. Their gazes followed me up the sidewalk until the playground equipment blocked their eye line.

I know these kids repeat what they have heard. I also know that they are using language in their every day conversations--with other kids and adults as well--that I would have been spanked for saying at their age. (My mom may still try if she heard me say things like they were.)

Discourtesy is everywhere. The words we use don't even seem to sink in anymore. No one recognizes polite speaking as socially necessary. (Someday, I'll add my thoughts about the courtesy that is lacking in our driving habits, but that will have to be another post all together.)

Too bad more sensible adults don't speak up and teach the kids around them how to behave. Sadly, other parents would be up in arms that I "disciplined" their child. That in-your-face parental contention is enough to keep most people's eyes on the ground and find it is easier to ignore other kids than speak up. It is too bad.

I'm so glad that I have friends who interact with my kids regularly as neighbor, or leaders, and do not hesitate to put the kids in their places if they are messing up. My kids have always known that I encourage that in their leaders and teachers. The kids seem to understand that they need to behave correctly, and generally, they do. I am grateful for that everyday. But I also thank my lucky stars for the friends who will back me up as a parent. You can't have enough friends like that.