Big Words Out Of Little Mouths

It always amazed me when I would hear small children use large words in their ceaseless chatter. I would think, My God, does this child have vocabulary drills 3 times daily with flashcards? That was, until I had a "big talker" of my own. Thus here is the list of the 50-cent words Phoenix has used this week (bear in mind that he is only 5 1/2):

disintegrated: "The laser blast totally disintegrated the fuel tank!"
appropriate: (when speaking of Flintstone vitamins) "Did you choose the one that was appropriate for your child?"
exasperated: "Keegan! You make me so exasperated!" Me-what does that word mean, dear? Him-sad, angry, upset and frustrated all at the same time...
ridiculous: "That's ridiculous, Mommy! And by the way, that means really, really silly."
fortuitous: "Well, that was fortuitous for him, wasn't it, Mommy?"

Umm...holy crap? And what is really sad, is not that he knows these words and uses them correctly, but that I think I spelled half of them wrong...

So where is he getting these words from? Some, from me. Some, from books. The rest, educational tv.

If you are a stay-at-home mom, then you are probably in the same position as I, in that your daytime television viewing is limited to either TVO, Kids CBC, PBS or Treehouse (or your country's equivalent, Nick Jr. etc.). This week on Kids CBC, a new show premiered called, seriously, "Pinky Dinky Doo". Every day on this show, they showcase a big word, define it, and use it in several different sentences. Words such as exasperated. And fortuitous. Wow. Well, I guess he'll score well on the language portion of his grade level testing. Or SAT's for that matter (assuming we win the lottery and he can go Ivy League).

Other cute things that happened in the last few days:

Phoenix asked to play a video game at a time when I was very busy with other tasks. I said, sorry, not now. He stormed off in a sulk, and came back about 10 minutes later and thrust a crayon rendition of himself into my hands. (I should really scan this picture and post it, because it is too cute). It is a picture of a boy with a huge sad frown on his face, labelled with his name. It's now hanging on the fridge with an assortment of magnets.

Phoenix went for a play date today. Keegan burst into tears when he left. I asked him what was wrong he sobbed, "Oh my Phoenix. Oh, my grief!"

Phoenix passed gas (ie farted) quite loudly. It startled Ty so much that he burst into tears. Phoenix and I burst into laughter. Yeah, we're a crude, cruel bunch.

Oh, why don't they stay this small and cute? Answer: parents could not survive for more than a few years at this tolerance level without jumping in front of a bus.

And on that cheery note, I bid you goodnight. Sleep tight. Don't let the bedbugs bite!