I had meant to post about this over a week ago, but as usual things get busy and blogging falls pretty low on the delegation of time for – well, anything, list. So, in view of recent events, the following “tri” conversation I had with my daughter is bittersweet.
The other day Aishtyn (in the car of course, where all her greatest mental work seems to flourish) asked me if “tri” meant three, since a triceratops has three horns. “Yep,” I said, “And a triathlon is a race that has 3 events, and a tricorne hat has 3 corners, and a trident has 3 prongs, and a tripod balances on 3 legs…” As I paused to consider what other examples I could come up with, she piped up with one of her own, “And your Mom has tri-dogs!!!” Laughing, I agreed. My mom has three dogs, she lives in a tri-dog home…or did until a few days after that conversation. Sigh.
My daughter has developed the habit my grandmother excelled at: selective hearing. On one such occasion (again in the car) she had asked my husband to repeat himself several times, when finally he grumbles out a frustrated “Wake up your ears!” To which Aishtyn immediately responds, “My ears sleep in the morning and afternoon and are awake at night. My ears are ‘OCKturnal’ (nocturnal for those of you who can’t translate 5-yr-old-ese). ” As it was still only mid-morning, I figured we were in for a loooong afternoon of, “What did you say?”
Melonie Johnson 