Of Noogles, Dolipops and Crowd Mothers.....

Children are inquisitive little beings. "Why", "For what", "Who", "How" and "Where" are the top words on their vocabulary list. I was no different. My mother still dreads the moment I open my mouth to say "Mum..can I ask you a question?". But her answer to most of my questions about Grammar, or word pronounciations or anything concerning the language my brother considers his mothertongue would be, "English is a funny language." And I'd have to agree. Hell, there are more exceptions to a rule than inclusions! But as little children just beginning to read and talk, we couldn't care less about spellings or grammar, or even making proper sense or a word, as long as we thought it was right. My brother for one, was always "get-upping" from sleep or "hurry-upping" for school.


I myself, although a pretty well-read 5 year old, had a difficult time understanding that a "chicken" is NOT a room where one cooks food. It is the "Kitchen" where we cook the "chicken". And the capital city of Hawaii is not Honolululululu. (You just HAVE to stop after two "Lu"s!!). Funny it was, when I would come home from school and demand a plate of "Maggi Noogles" for lunch. "It's nooDles", my mum would correct me. "Yes momma...noogles is what I said!". It also quite impressed my aunt, that I managed to read a whole paragraph from her book about the 16th President Of the United States. But come to his name, and I would go, "ABE-RAA-HAM  LIN-CO-LIN".  Oh go ahead, laugh at me, but why would you add letters to a word if they are supposed to be "silent"?! I sure thought I deserved a sweet or lollipop for achieving such a feat. Or as I used to call it, a " big huge dolipop".


However, the most distinct memory of my funny pronunciations, one that my parents and I still have a laugh about, is the time my mother tried to teach me how to say the word "Proud". It goes something like this.....


"Mom, are you crowd of me?" I would say, whenever I did something worthy of her praise, even if I just got a golden star in my school book.
"Honey, its not crowd. It's proud."
"Crowd?"
"No Huzie..Proud. P-P-P-P-P...PROUD."
"Yes mom, P-P-P-P-P.....Crowd!! Are you crowd of me?"
*Sigh* "Yes baby, I'm very crowd of you."


I guess some things are just too hard for 5 year olds to grasp!! ;)