Funnies

Since we now have two children who love making people laugh, I thought I'd share a few of the things that have made me laugh recently.

Daniel likes to complain, often with great drama and flair.  One expression that he uses a lot is that he's about to die of something (hunger, exhaustion, heat, etc.)  I don't know if the expression has any more force in Chinese than somebody in this country saying "I'm starving!" but it tickles me to hear him use it.  So one day I said to him, "I think your health must not be very good."  He asked, "Why?"  "I answered, "Because you're often about to die of something!"  He laughed.  Later that day we were discussing his upcoming doctor's visit.  He asked why he had to go, and I said it was for the doctor to check how his health is.  He said, "I think my health has a little problem."  Wondering anxiously what undisclosed medical information was about to be revealed, I asked him what the problem was.  He replied, "I'm often about to die of something!"  He got me good on that one!

Esther is learning a lot of Chinese from her brother.  Her pronunciation is beautiful, but she doesn't always know what she is saying.  Like a couple of nights ago.  She came running out of her room to say good-night to Daniel, and held up her arms to be picked up.  When he did, she wrapped her arms around his neck and said sweetly, "Nide jiao hen zang."  ("Your feet are very dirty.)

One day shortly after we arrived back from China, Daniel was sitting in the kitchen with me while I made lunch.  I was about to turn on the blender and didn't want him to be startled by the noise, but I didn't know how to say "It's going to be loud!" or "I'm going to make a lot of noise!"  So I settled for, "Be careful of your ears!"  Only instead of "Xiaoxing nide erduo" (be careful of your ears) I said "Xiaoxing nide erzi" (be careful of your son).  He thought it was very funny, and now he says it all the time.  For example, when he was trying to follow me with a shopping cart in the grocery store and I got too far ahead he called out, "Xiaoxing nide erzi!"

We bought Esther a new-to-her child's standing easel with a chalkboard on one side.  She announced to Daddy that she was going to teach him something, and asked him what he wanted to learn.  He replied, "Physics."  So she stood up by the easel and informed him, "The earth rotates" (making a rotating motion with her fingers).  Sometimes she really surprises us with the stuff she comes out with!

Recently, Daniel said something in Chinese that included the syllable "pi" (pronounced "pee").  Esther exclaimed, "Daniel just said "pee!"  He shouldn't say that!!"  So I explained to her that "pi" in Chinese means something different than "pee" in English, and he had been using it in Chinese.  Daniel asked me for a translation of what we were saying, so I filled him in on what "pee" means.  Naturally, he enjoyed the joke thoroughly.  A day or two later he was talking with a "teacher" (actually, I think, one of the directors of the orphanage!) who is currently in the U.S., and they were discussing his English learning.  I heard him ask her, "Hey, do you know what "pee" means in English?"  Oy.

Last night Esther was pretending to talk on an old telephone.  She said to Tim, "It's my Mama.  Do you want to talk to her?" and handed the phone to him.  He "talked" for a minute and then handed the phone back.  She put her ear to the phone, made a surprised face (as if there was no longer someone on the other end), and asked him sternly, "Did you push buttons?!"