My grandson's verbal skills, Tag & Prozac, Scary Lucy, Crickets for Lunch?

Whimsy

When I pick up my two-year-old grandson from day-care, we have this little routine, which I'm proud to say I started. It goes like this. We start driving down the street, & he suddenly exclaims, "Bigguck!" That is "Bentley" for "Big truck." Or he might just yell, "Guck!" This happens because, as a way to amuse him when I started picking him up [which is occasionally, not regularly, when both Rachel & Derek have to work late], I would point to trucks & say, "Look! There's a truck!" Sometimes I would say, "Hey, truck!" Sometimes, "Hi, truck!" Pretty soon he was imitating me. He doesn't quite have that T-phoneme * down yet, but he's getting there.

Now it's not unusual for him to initiate this conversation. He'll suddenly point ahead, for example, & say, "Bigguck!" Sure enough, as I look ahead at cross traffic, I may catch a glimpse of a large, semi-, often a cattle truck, & he's nailed it. I'm so proud!

Lately I've added a new twist to add to his vocab-acquisition skills. I point to trucks, especially pick-up trucks, and say, "Look, Bentley! A RED truck." Or, "Hey! It's a WHITE truck." It's taking him a little while to catch on, but, c'mon, cut him some slack. He's only two-years-old.

Now, this next anecdote is just a little disquieting to me. Bear with me. It's NOT a digression. As I was walking the dog down Skyline Drive early this morning, a pick-up truck passed me. The words formed in my head instantaneously. "Look, Sammy! A RED truck!!" Fortunately, I did not verbalize those words aloud, but my thinking process, particularly because it happened instantly & without thoughtful deliberation, has given me some pause. 

Hey, did you catch that? Pause? Sammy? Paws? Sometimes I just crack myself up.
* Sorry if I got a little too linguistically complex for you there. **
** And I don't even know if I used "phoneme" correctly. I took my last linguistics course in the late 1970s.

Tag is bad for children:  That's right. You read it here first! [This could explain why, as someone who played tag at recess for hours, I'm taking Prozac.]

Excerpt from Omaha World Herald (10/7):  "Bob Saget to appear in Broadway play 'Hand to God'. Edgy & irreverent comedian Bob Saget is returning to Broadway--as a pastor...the former 'Full House' star will replace star will replace Marc Kudisch as the pastor in the play that features a satanic hand puppet . . . " [We watched Full House w/our kids pretty faithfully. Sometime after that series ended, I became aware of just how raunchy Bob Saget was as a comedian. I read this excerpt & I couldn't help myself. Not to be judgmental, but, I did throw up in my mouth a little. Nice role model. And don't get me started on the twins!]

There is no place like . . . 

New York?

Excerpt from Omaha World Herald (10/7):  "It's a role 'scary Lucy' was born to play: Frightening people at Halloween. A bronze statue of Lucille Ball that has drawn worldwide scorn will be placed in a mall near her western New York town as part of the shopping center's annual Haunted house event." [If you haven't been aware of this statue until now, follow the link. You'll see why no comment is necessary.]

Criminal Minds

Excerpt from Norfolk Daily News (9/29):  "Not happy. A McDonald's customer in New Mexico was not loving it when employees mistakenly put pickles on his order. Police in Carlsbad said officers had to squash a public disturbance at the fast-food restaurant after the customer began harassing employees over the mistake. Workers told police the man raised his voice & started throwing things off the restaurant's counter." [Imagine the reaction if they had forgotten the onions!]

Food for Thought

Also from NDN (10/6):  "Crickets for lunch. A food truck at the University of Connecticut is serving roasted crickets. The Daily Campus reported the university's dining services are advertising the insects as organic, not genetically modified & earth friendly. The crickets are high in protein & low in fat. They're a source of B vitamins, iron & zinc . . . " [Okay, okay! You had me at "organic." But seriously...are there crickets who are NOT earth friendly? DEPT. of IMAGINARY CONVERSATIONS:  Dept. of Homeland Security Advisor: Mr. President, we have reason to believe that there is a dire threat to our country in the form of crickets who are NOT earth friendly. POTUS:  Blame George Bush!]