I've been reading Laney SkippyJon Jones books lately which are AWESOME! I tell you, you have not lived until you've found yourself snuggled up with a five year old saying "Hola Muchachitas" in giggly unison.
Some thoughts at storytime:
1. I have a lot of books I read to Laney where I find myself slipping back into a southern accent. When I get back in that southern accent it feels like the most natural way to speak - way more natural than my normal midwestern flat accentless accent. If you change your accent (especially on purpose like I did), I wonder if it just gets harder to be yourself in general.
2. Regardless of your accent, what's up with American English? I read the words "puddle" and "bottle" with the same second syllable. And pronouncing the "t" in "bottle" sounds unbelievable pretentious in American. Crazy, huh?
3. Tonight before SkippyJon, we did a little Curious George. At one point George finds himself in a museum surrounded by stuffed animals on display. Laney grabs my arm and says "I know what they are! Animalkins!" Now, I'm thinking she's doing some kind of riff on Webkinz. But, instead, she tells me that mannequins are fake men, so these are fake animals so they're animal-quins. Come on, y'all, how great is that? Animalquins. I love it.
4. If I ever get my rock and roll band started, I think we'll be called Animalquins.
Adios, muchachitas!
