Last night, after a long day of shopping, Brooke, the three kids and I were all traveling back home. It was just beginning to get so dark that we were mostly only able to make out shapes of trees and houses and cars as we drove through the countryside.
Suddenly, I noticed an oppossum ... okay, distracted blogger here, but do I put "an" in front of oppossum since it begins with a vowel or do I put "a" before it since I don't say the initial letter "o" but rather say just "possum?" This is quite a dilemma. Never-the-less, I shall press foreward and continue my story.
So I saw this oppossum about to stroll onto the highway and I sort of squealed because I really thought we were going to hit the little fella. My squeal made Brooke (who was the driver) jump. I quickly apologized and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I just thought you were about to hit that oppossum back there."
At this time, Nathan pipes up from the backseat of the minivan, "Oppossums are not turtles."
Brooke and I looked at each other and then trying not to laugh said, "That's right, Nathan. Oppossums are not turtles."
For the next 5 or 6 minutes, Brooke and I kept repeating this line in various ways to each other. It was such a strange and funny little statement, esp. for Nathan to have made. I guess eventually I wondered aloud at why Nathan had made such a comment. Brooke said, "I sure don't know. Maybe you should ask him."
So I did ... "Nathan, why did you say that oppossums were not turtles?"
Nathan: "I didn't say that."
Brooke and I, together: "Yes, you did! We heard you!"
Nathan: "No. I didn't say 'oppossums were not turtles.' What I said was 'oppossums were NOCTURNAL.' "
And that point, Brooke and I fell out laughing so hard that she could hardly drive. Naturally! Oh, my ... of course, Nathan (my little animal lover and budding scientist) would have been quick to point out that oppossums are nocturnal. It was just some weird misunderstanding that Brooke and I both heard "not turtles" instead of "nocturnal."
By the way, we are still laughing this morning.
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1 comment:
Thanks for the giggle! I could see the misunderstanding for sure.
And ----while reading about whether you should have an "a" or an "an". I actually sat here reading the sentence over and over. Even asked Eric and Caleb. And then I read the rest of the paragraph about your reasoning. We have decided since the "o" is silent, it should have "a" instead of "an". But I wasn't an English major so I'm probably totally wrong with my reasoning.
Your kids crack me up! Never a dull moment with them.
You are such a great mother!
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