Lately, Makea is constantly asking me to repeat myself several times. When I say something she will almost invariably ask "What?" sometimes as many as four or five times! I noticed my patience shortening and my level of irritation rising at this as it happened more frequently, but I did not want to discourage her curiosity, so I began asking her "What do YOU think I just said?" Prior to me turning the question back around to her, I had assumed she was simply 'tuning me out' which is why she demanded repetition....but upon hearing her responses I've come to realize that she is truly TRYING to listen, but can't always make sense of what she hears. Here are just a few examples of recent conversations:
~ Makea wanted to bring her nutcracker doll to the dinner table. Given our rule of 'no toys at the table' we couldn't allow it, but Jon said "Why don't you sit him over there and he can watch us eat?" "What?" (Jon repeats himself) "What?!" (Jon asks what she thinks he said) "You want him to sit there so he can watch DISNEY???"
~ A Christmas CD of ours has a song with the lyrics "...He was the baby Jesus, O My Lord..." I was singing along the other day when Makea asked "What?" I told her I was singing the song and asked her to sing along. She belted out, in perfect pitch and meter, "He was the baby Jesus, on my nose, He was the baby Jesus, on my nose." I couldn't stop laughing and realized why she had been confused!
The song incident reminded me of similar elements of confusion in my own childhood, (although none quite so comical), mostly relating to songs. For instance:
I was confused at what being a Child of God had to do with having gray knees, and wondered what I had done wrong that my knees looked normal. (Translation: "I am a Child of God, and so my needs are great...")
I wondered where Joseph got a lemon sack in which to carry things, and what exactly a lemon sack was for that matter. (Translation: "...[Joseph] carried bread and goat cheese in a little linen sack.")
Of course, if you don't think any of these are funny, you may appreciate Kevin James on the King of Queens when he tells his wife about a Neil Diamond song about a "Hip Reverend". When she asks him what he's talking about, he sings "...Reverend blue jeans, babe..." (Translation: Forever in Blue Jeans).
Anyone out there have any of their own "Say What?" experiences? I'd love to hear them!
1 comment:
Hi, Buchanans! Awesome blog! I can totally relate...two different songs come to mind. There is a 80's song I believe written by Darryl Hall called "Every Time You Go Away (You Take a Piece of Me with You)and I couldn't figure out why anyone would need to take a piece of meat with them every time they went somewhere. The other one is a song called "Feelings," (whoa whoa whoa feelings...ring a bell?)I was CERTAIN that song was written about my cat Felix. I couldn't figure out how they knew his name.
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