Sunday, February 03, 2008

Abraham Lincoln didn't have tantrums.

Wife (not pictured) and The Little Man (pictured) walked past a statue of Abraham Lincoln here on Manhattan this morning. This conversation took place:
The Little Man: Mommy, who's that? [pointing at statue]
Wife: That's a statue of Abraham Lincoln.
The Little Man: Who's he?
Wife: He was a good man. He was self-controlled and didn't have tantrums; he freed slaves with his Emancipation Proclamation and he gave the Gettysburg Address. And, he was a President of the United States.
The Little Man: That's GENIUS, Mommy!
Later in the day, The Little Man was having a Little Tantrum, and naturally, this conversation took place:
Wife: Now, Little Man, would Abraham Lincoln have a tantrum?
The Little Man: Of course not, Mommy. He's just a statue.
Can't fight the logic. huh?

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Pic of JM and The Little Man taken at Sunday School by Clara P, I think. Or Mira L?
Pic of Lincoln on Flickr by Wallyg.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

He says "Mommy" rather than "Mummy"?

Justin said...

'fraid so, JD.

His mom is American, his family here is American, his friends are.

I am the only mitigating voice in a cacophony of North American accents.

The forces are railed against the antipodean tongue, I'm afraid.

byron smith said...

:-)
This post gave Jessica and me a good laugh. Thanks!

NB I hear evidence of NA dialect not only in 'mommy', but also 'genius' used as an exclamation. But this is about usage, rather than orthography, and so I suspect the gap is less rigid.

byron smith said...

Also sounds like you your Little Man ought to take on someone his own size, like Benjamin's daughter, while the parents all lick their wounds.

Benjamin Ady said...

"cacophony" is a just-so description for what you describe. perfect.

Megs said...

from one mitigating voice amidst north american cacophony to another,
g'day! our girls had aussie accents ... until starting preschool! Now often they'll say 'MOOOOOOOmmy ... oh, that's right, you;re Australian, you;re MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUmmy!!!!!!

Oooh, and I have to mention
http://youtube.com/watch?v=HBB8o34qwnc

Gordon Cheng said...

Great photo Justin

Unknown said...

i took that photo, cuz i'm the wanna-be-paparazza-@-church!

Melissa said...

I would expect nothing less from a little combination of the mom and dad! It sounds like something your wife would say!!