Tomato warning

As is typical in the South, May has been schizophrenic in terms of its weather this year. We were sweating it out in high heat and humidity last weekend, and today it’s chilly enough for a light jacket. I can deal with the yo-yoing temperatures, but spring storms always scare me. So, yesterday the 2nd Grader {my most anxious child} and I were both concerned about the severe weather alert we heard sound on my phone. It turned out to be nothing more than a tornado watch, but we had to watch the clouds and check the radar several times throughout the day to make sure. And there was lots of talk about what we would do in the event of a tornado.

Last night we had a babysitter come to the house to watch the girls for a few hours, and the first thing the Preschooler announced to her was, “We need to do a tomato drill!!”

It was an honest misunderstanding. I suppose she spent the whole day wondering why we would need to take shelter from a fruit/vegetable I encourage her to eat. {Did you know the Supreme Court once had to settle an argument about whether tomatoes are fruits or vegetables? True story}. Anyway, I think the threat for both fast-moving tornadoes and tomatoes has passed over for now.

Speaking of misunderstandings… One of the perks of surviving the month of May is getting to see the work the older girls bring home in their backpacks on the last day of school. I especially love looking through their journals to see how their writing has developed over the course of the year. These are a couple of my favorite entries from the 2nd Grader’s “weekend recap” journal:

You have to appreciate the way our Appalachian heritage comes through in the way we hear and spell words here in the South.

“Are ain’t” is pretty much exactly how it sounds when we attempt to say “our aunt.” Say it out loud and you’ll see what I mean. It’s a fun game to try and spell our Southern dialect phonetically. I imagine it’s a real challenge to decipher and/or grade it if you’re not from around here.

Also of note, if you say the word “trolley” fast enough you can almost make it sound like “charlie.” I’m just impressed the teacher figured that one out!

To prove the use of “ain’t” for “aunt” wasn’t an accident, we also have this entry a few weeks later:

There ain’t nobody who loves her ain’t and unckle more than this girl. And, whoever decided the word dachshund should be pronounced “dox-en” clearly didn’t ever have to teach spelling to children.

Now that I’ve had my fun reading through these, I’ve got to work on some plans to keep this crew entertained all summer. That ain’t gonna be easy!