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Additional proof that 7-year-olds don’t miss much…

“Mom, I think that stinging jellyfish are really pretty, but they prob-ly aren’t so very fun to be with. There’s people that are kinda like that too, huh?”

Indeed.

parenting children motherhood kids SAHM

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.

~George Eliot

parenting children motherhood kids SAHM

So I was reading the other evening and came across a brand-new-to-me word… tatterdemalion.

tat-ter-de-mal-ion [tat-er-di-meyl-yuhn]

–noun
1. A person in tattered clothing; a shabby person; a ragamuffin.

–adjective
2. Ragged; unkempt or dilapidated; tattered.

Unfortunately for you, you’re going to have to put up with me while I play with my new find — because no one in my house will humor me in this.

My husband? Nope. Not a chance.

I pointed out my new discovery to him last night with perhaps a tad too much enthusiasm. He turned over on his pillow just quickly enough for me to catch his eyes in the very act of glazing over.

I’m pretty sure he is able to sleep with his eyes open when he deems it necessary. And in case you were wondering, literary conversations would qualify as a necessity of the most dire form.

He’s also been known to call me a “hoity-toity word nerd” upon occasion, so I really have no idea what it was that I think I was expecting out of the attempted conversation.

I also tried it out on my three-year-old…

“Let’s get you out of this tatterdemalion outfit Daddy put you in this morning, shall we?

He gave me a puzzled look. “You talkin’ Spanish ah me, Mommy?”

No luck there. On to our seven-year-old…

“OK, let’s go upstairs and get the tatterdemalion lot of you started on lunch.”

She put her hands on her hips and stared me down. “We’re NOT taddy-duh-mally-uns! We’re sibble-ized children!”

Nothing like a seven-year-old to take you down a notch.

I had to actually look the word up in the dictionary before using it in a sentence of my very own — you know, just to be absolutely sure I knew what it meant. She on the other hand, appears to have been born knowing what it means.

So you see I really have no choice.

You’re my only option. Don’t worry, it will be over soon. Here goes…

Hey! Guess what?!? I found a brand new word! Would you like hear it? Tatterdemalion! Isn’t that a great sounding word?!? Tatterdemalion, tatterdemalion, tatterdemalion… just rolls off the tongue, no?

Oooo! And wait until you hear what it means! The noun form means “a person in tattered clothing; a shabby person; or a ragamuffin” and the adjective form means “ragged; unkempt or dilapidated; tattered”. Great word, don’t you think?

Wait! Come back! It gets better!! Just listen to these sentences it can be used in…

Just where do you think you are going in that tatterdemalion ensemble?

When was the last time these pint-sized tatterdemalions have been bathed? Honestly! You could grow potatoes behind those ears!

Off to bed! The whole tatterdemalion lot of you!

Perhaps one day my tatterdemalion dreams of family conversations displaying appreciation of literature and the English language will be a little less lacking in verisimilitude.

Hello? Anybody there?

Ah. I see…

Just resting your eyes? Yes, yes, of course…

Really, there’s no need to explain…

They do look a bit glazed over.

Oh, what a fine tatterdemalion mess this post turned out to be.

parenting children motherhood kids SAHM

Artist Unknown

Me: Okay… ready for our vocabulary word for the day? Our word for the day is bazaar. Do you know what bazaar means?

Seven-Year-Old: Oh! Yes! I do, I do! It means when somethin’ is very, very strange!

Me: Wonderful! Today we’re talking about a different kind of bazaar though. The one you so perfectly explained is a whole different word. It is spelled b-i-z-a-r-r-e. The word we are learning today is b-a-z-a-a-r. Do you know what our word of the day b-a-z-a-a-r means?

Seven-Year-Old: No, but I’m guessin’ it’s somethin pretty bizarre.

Me: You’re hilarious. A bazaar is a marketplace. A lot of times it’s outside or along a street with lots of booths and tables set up for selling things. Kind of like this picture I have here — it’s a bazaar in the Middle East. Bazaar can also mean a type of craft fair like the ones we like to go look around at just before Christmas. They’re often called a holiday bazzar.

Seven-Year-Old: I was right. It does mean somethin’ bizarre. Why’s there two words spelled so different that sound the same and mean different things?

Me: Great question! They’re called homonyms — two words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.

Seven-Year-Old: Homma-numma-nim… that’s really bizarre. Are you sure you’re not jess makin’ all this up to make sure I’m payin’ da-tenshun or somethin’?

Me: Yes, I’m sure. I’m not making this up. Homonyms are real, even though you’re right — they are kind of strange. And bazaar and bizarre really are two different words. OK, now would you please write out our word for the day on your paper? Good! Now, do you think you can use bazaar correctly in a scentence?

Seven-Year-Old: Yes. I saw something bizarre at the bazzar.

Me: You’re a nut. You know that, don’t you?

Seven-Year-Old: Ooo! I have another one! Homonyms are bizarre but you won’t find ‘em at a bazaar… wanna hear another?

Only 43 more days to go until Christmas break…

parenting children motherhood kids SAHM

Original Art by Childlife ~ Copyright 2009

Three-Year-Old: Look, Daddy! I habba teeny cree-chur!

Dad: Let’s see there… yep. Looks like you’ve found an earthworm.

Three-Year-Old: Ooops… I broke-ded him. Look! Now I habs TWO worms!

parenting children motherhood kids SAHM