The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly in the Plain

Gratuitous picture of the Raleigh House headliners.

As you know, Dear Readers, we're into words at Raleigh House.  Words, sentences, grammar. . .the wonders of the English language!  The wonders of both the English language, and the bambini, were on full display tonight at dinner.

As you know, Joe is four--and a half.  So he knows stuff.  Clara is still catching up, and what better way to make sure that his little sister's learning is on track than quizzes!  Joe has adopted our habit of asking things like, "What does the red light mean?" or "Is a banana a fruit or a vegetable?"  One of his dinnertime questions to Clara tonight was what animal started with the letter Z and Brigade!  She knew!  Now it's true that there are like two words recognizable to the preschool set as representative of the letter Z (let's say them together: zebra and zipper), but still!  Boom!  She was right there with it.  We high fived it up.  Clara also noted that camel (another animal!) started with C, and car, and Casen (a friend in class)--and ME!  Meaning her, our Clara.

Joe's triumph over the English language requires more exposition.  Julie got a paper cut while opening up the mail.  One of the Spiderman Band-Aids was the right size and shape, as Julie explained to the bambini when she flashed her medical bling around the table--and Joe added, "And, it sticks really well [emphasis added]."  Really well, Fans!  Well!  Not good!  Huge!  Have been correcting and attempting to explain this peculiarity for months.  Huge.

Before scampering off to bath, Joe came round the table to tell Julie he knew something else: he knew it was mine, not mines.  Birdie often stakes her claim to something by saying, "It's mines."  Seems logical--it would be Clara's, Mommy's Daddy's, and then of course there's hers, his, yours. . .Why wouldn't the possessive of my be mines, if it has to be mine?  Wouldn't you know it?  That's just what Joe asked: "Why is there no s?"  The wonder of possessives!  And we're not even talking plural possessives!  Julie did her best to explain, which is to say, she did well.