One of the great things about living in a coastal town like Wilmington, NC is that we live where other people go to vacation. This year, our Fourth of July vacation was a stay-cation of sorts, as we enjoyed boating, beaches and hotel pools with friends and family here and in neighboring Myrtle Beach, SC.
If I learned anything this past week, it is that location is everything, especially when it comes to raising your kids and the way they talk. As a child raised in the Northeast, I grew up on “soda”. But people from other parts of the country say “pop”, “soft drink”, or quite simply, “Coke” (as in every carbonated beverage is a “Coke”).
There’s a t-shirt that’s quite popular down South. It has a drawing of an iced-tea-sipping lady in a floppy straw hat with the slogan: “GRITS: Girls Raised in The South.” During our vacation, I shared a moment with my daughter that made me realize that although I may have been raised up North, I am raising my own “GRITS” girls down South. And I confess that I may not be ready to have my own Scarlett O’Hara at home:
As the family played in a busy hotel swimming pool, a little boy jumped in and swam under water, right under me and my four-year-old daughter, Chloe. His decision to swim under us was a little surprising for both of us, and after he had done so, my daughter asked a question that floored me: “Daddy,” she said, earnestly, “do you think he saw my butt?”
I suppose you are never prepared for your daughter to ask those kinds of questions, and it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting from my four-year old child! Flabbergasted, I tried to change the subject: “Chloe, it’s not polite to say ‘butt‘.”
She scrunched up her face and looked at me and asked: “Well, then, do you think he saw my biscuits?” Whatever you call it, wherever you’re from- backside, booty, bottom, derriere or biscuits- my cheeky little Southern four-year-old knocked me right on mine!
I suppose it’s only a matter of time before I’ll be hearing her repeat other local colloquialisms like:
- “He’s two fries short of a Happy Meal.” (Let’s hope it’s not about me!)
- “He’s older than dirt.” (ditto!)
- “He’s so rich, he buys a new boat when the other one gets wet.” (I wouldn’t mind if she could say this about me or her boyfriends) and
- “Gimme some sugar.” (She better only EVER say that to me!)
Here’s hopin’ you’re as happy as a tick on a fat dog this weekend,
~Bob
