Funny phraseology

Okay, some background info...

Our community Y has these "family rooms" so that the entire family can go in and change and take a shower, etc. After swimming lessons, Avery and John went in so she could take a shower.

"Dad, it smells bad in here. It (sniff, sniff)…smells like poop…..like (sniff, sniff)…man poop."

No further comments on that one.

"I have a secret, dad. But you can't tell anyone. Not even yourself. Okay?"
"Mom, can I have some of that spagaragous?"
"Ugh, those eggs smell like refrigerator".
"But dad! Next weekend won't even get here 'til Tuesday!"

Avery's learning a lot of prayers at school and we say a prayer before dinner each night. She always gets this one little part wrong, which is just so cute and funny. We try so hard not to laugh.

"...which we are 'bout to receive, from thy botchy, through Christ, our Lord, Amen."
(botchy is actually "bounty"-- so funny.)

Avery was also the "Star" at school this last week. She was able to cut out pictures of all the things she likes and answer some questions about herself. Then the teacher placed them up on this big board. She brought her favorite books and shared them. On Friday, John and I, Grandpa Tom and mom and dad came. She stood up in front of the class with a crown on (she hates to be the center-of-attention and it was painful to watchu) and used a pointer (which, at first, she though was her point finger) to explain why she cut out what she did. Her teacher went to sit down on the counter next to her and accidentally knocked her over and she fell. All the kids laughed and I though, oh no. She got up and started rubbing her eyes--a sign that she's just about ready to start crying. But, she recovered after mommy distracted her. I could tell we were going to be in for a brutal 10 minutes. We were...the next ten minutes were spent with one of saying "honey, we can't hear you" and my child completely disappeared in anxiety. I just wanted to go give her a hug, but I continued to watch and immediately prayed that she wouldn't have the same problem as me. I absolutely HATE (it's a strong word, but it's really true!) standing in front of a crowd and giving speeches. My dreams of becoming a star came to halt in 7th grade when I realized this. Practice makes perfect and I took this opportunity to just let this be her first "practice".

Her teacher proceeded to ask her questions about her magazine cutouts. On the page about her, she had a small picture of herself and a life-sized cutout of a face of an African-American girl. I thought this was interesting and at home I had asked her what made her cut out this little girl. Was it her pretty smile? Was it her hair? Nope, she stated she simply like her earring.

There were little cutouts that the teacher made after asking her questions prior in the week and they were hung with Avery's answers on them (these were questions the teacher asked again, Friday, in front of us). I read them and they were true, but everything changes in front of a crowd...

Teacher: What's your favorite color?
Avery: Black (it's red, always has been)

What's your favorite sports team?
The Hawkeyes (What?!)

Do you like spaghetti?
No (it's her all time favorite)

What do you like to do at home?
Nothing. (on the board, it said: plant flowers with mommy, which is true.)

Do you like movies?
No. (She loves all Disney movies)

This continued and I sat there in absolute horror! Where did Avery go? Did her twin who's favorite color is black and who loves the Hawkeyes step in? The students in her class sat there answering all of her questions--I LOVE spaghetti, they said. Oooh, the Hawkeyes are good, they yelled! Then they heard the other class singing a song and began clapping to it!

Finally, it was over. I got it on tape and will post it as soon as I figure that out! It is just painful to watch. But, so bittersweet in a way.

As soon as the teacher told her she could take her crown off and come sit down with mom and dad, she ran over and gave us a hug and returned to being her true self. We sat down at dinner and talked about it a little bit. That it is okay to be nervous, but that it's also okay to be honest and different. That God made us this way so that we can share our differences with others and learn from them! If He made us all the same, we wouldn't learn anything from each other. Hard lesson and one that I still struggle with as an adult. She is so precious to us and I can't wait to see her grow into a young lady, confident in herself!