Kids say the darndest things, Tani edition

[rhu]

The other morning, Tani was reading the back of a cereal box and couldn't work out the word "college." (I think it came out as kole-jeh.) I asked him "What do you do when you can't figure out a word?" His reply:

"Don't tell me to use the dictionary. I don't want to turn into you; you read the dictionary too much."

Ouch. (I happen to know that in many ways he does want to turn into me, so I didn't take offense at this.) I used it as a teaching moment to talk about how just because one person has an unhealthy appetite for something (in this case, me and dictionaries) doesn't mean that everyone else should avoid it; we discussed the difference between watching a half-hour TV show daily and being a couch potato; etc.

But again, I say, ouch. "You read the dictionary too much." [*sob*]

Comments

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to say, the dictionary is rather low on plot....

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

That all depends on your perspective. Look up "pudding" in NI2 and you get a fascinating culinary history lesson.

A good unabridged is like an anthology of short-short stories.

[recordersmith.livejournal.com]

OK, I stand corrected. That sounds like fun.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm waiting for the movie.

[toonhead-npl.livejournal.com]

Don't let him catch you doing puzzles!

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

Puzzles he thinks are cool. (No Ron Rosenbaum here.) But he doesn't see me using the dictionary when solving puzzles, so I don't think he's made that connection yet.

(Which isn't to say that I don't sometimes use the dictionary when solving puzzles, it's just that the really hard puzzles that require the dictionary also require quiet uninterrupted time, which I get once he and Alissa are abed.)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Reading the dictionary was a big part of my high school experience.

To this day I cannot simply look a word up in a dictionary and then put the dictionary away. I end up exploring, finding new things on each page.

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

i find this to be one advantage (if it -is- an advantage) of using the online version of dictionaries: no extraneous entries surrounding the word you looked up, tempting you to use company time for your own edification. i also like being able to compare definitions from several major sources in one page. i haven't actually opened my paper ahd in ages.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Tell Tani that Superman reads the dictionary a lot. :-)

Kids say the darndest things, Tani edition

[oma-greene.livejournal.com]

I hope that he doesn't pick up any of your other "bad habits".