Learning Things

We all know that old adage that "You learn something new every day," and when you have a three-year-old loose in the house, that really becomes an absolute truth. Some times you learn things you knew before and find yourself re-learning them because you didn't have to use that knowledge for a long, long time. Other times, you learn right along with the three-year-old too what things are now called - in her book.

One thing Maya has learned fairly recently, is the expression "Oh, my gosh!" When she picked this one up, we're not sure because sometimes she says things and they may be said when she is playing with her toys and talking to them so we don't always pay particular attention to some things she says right then. But now, she has a tendency to knock on the bathroom door for instance, when someone is in there and whether she gets an answer or not, you can often hear her say "Oh, my gosh!"

Last night though, she was running from the kitchen to the living room and apparently those clumsy genes (acquired from dear old Gram here) kicked into gear as she tripped over her own two feet, started to fall, went down on one knee and just as quickly, picked herself up, did a little brush-off and said "Oh, my gosh!" And, she went right back to her running again.

Last week, one day when Mandy had to leave the house early in the morning, before Maya's normal "rise and shine" time, when I went upstairs to get her up and bring her downstairs, she greeted me in a way that is unusual for her. Normally, when you go in to get her out of her bed, she's awake, happy, smiling, plays a little peek-a-boo with her quilt but then, pops up, gathering her special blanket (Mr. Blanky), grabs the bink and pops it in her mouth and is reaching up for you to get her out of there.

However, last week, when I went in her room, she pulled the blanket over her head and started saying something, over and over, that sounded like she was saying "Berback, berback!" And the tone of voice, was that one she gets when she is about to start crying and could very easily go into a bit of a meltdown phase. So I had cajoled her that morning into getting up and she was then ok, but I forgot about what she had said. I hadn't been able to figure it out at all at the time and much later, when I mentioned it to Mandy, she couldn't figure out either what it might have been she was trying to tell me.

Last night, I found out what she meant!

Mandy had both kids in the tub, giving them a bath together and was ready to take the baby out of the tub. She asked Maya did she want to get out then and let Gram dry her off and Maya's response to her mother was "Berback, berback!" Hearing that, Mandy had said, ok, in a bit and left it at that. I told Mandy then too that was what Maya had said to me last week when I went to get her out of bed but I didn't know what she was saying then. Mandy interpreted it for me last night though: "Be right back, be right back!" Meaning I'm not ready right now so come back in a minute or two or so.

Today, I learned something else new and this didn't come from Maya though.

I received an e-mail this morning from a young woman in Sweden with whom I have been e-mailing back and forth for probably almost 8 years now. She does geneology work in Sweden and has helped me immeasurably to trace a lot of my Swedish ancestry - at least on my maternal grandfather's side of the family.

In this e-mail, Anneli said that she will be coming to America this coming Saturday for a "Geneology Tour" along with four other people from Sweden. And, while they are here -until May 14th - they will be traveling from New York City to Minnesota, from Minnesota to Rock Island, Illinois and from Rock Island, Illinois, they will go to Jamestown, New York. And after their seminar in Jamestown, they will end up HERE - in Clearfield - which is about 23-24 miles from where I live!

Needless to say, I am really excited about this upcoming visit and looking forward very much to meeting her and learning a bit more about my Swedish roots in the process. Isn't that just fantastic though?

And, now - that time has come too - time for you to learn along with me the Bushism for the day - this one is for Thursday, April 26, 2007.

"As a matter of fact, I know relations between our governments is good." - On U.S.-South Korean relations; Washington, D.C.; November 8, 2005.