h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Neither set of parents made any efforts when it came to my little girl. Because she was mine. But we are having a wonderful time doing well by the littlies at Christmas, Easter, birthdays, ...

Mind you, during any visits, they each also learn that Mom or Dad's yes and no is THE final answer. We won't over-ride them.

That's the way it should be. My mom loves to spoil her grandchildren but she's also very strict so my nephews have more rules than they do at home. If I had children I'd probably get her to take care of them during the day because I would then know they are being "raised right" when they aren't with me.

I was the same with my nephews. They had rules in my home they had to live with and it was much stricter than at their own. But because of it I could take them to very nice restaurants and instead of angry looks I got looks of admiration and frequent people coming up to me saying how well they were behaved.

It really is rewarding to see young 'uns turning out well, and knowing you had a distinctive input to that.

We always do one large'ish "birth" gift for a child. And at a loss for good ideas at the moment. I was wondering if a semi-rabid, kick-boxing ninja chicken would be appropriate?

I'll even pay shipping!!!

One of my nephews is stuck with saying something I always say.. my mom thought it was so funny, especially when he was just 3 years old and starting most things with "I think perhaps..."

It beats what my daughter started every sentence with, and now two of hers do as well. "Guess what?", immediately followed by something you never would have guessed, even if you WERE a deranged Newfoundlander.

What is that?

My mom got her first taste of my nephew's language issue when she said he had a cute nose.. he said "I think perhaps it's the source of my popularity."

My daughter is born and raised in the island province of Newfoundland. As are her kids. Locals are predominantly descended from Irish and Scots, with just a few smidgeons of British and French to make it all interesting. And having only joined Canada in 1949, they are our youngest and still most rugged members of the family. Largely dependent on fisheries, a bit of mining, ...

And each and every one is a certifiable lunatic, from my experiences. Remember, not only did I live and work there for 4 years, I once married one.

*giggles*

my nephews are all mutts, like me. From our side of the family they get my mom's German and my father's Cherokee.. then whatever happy mix their other parents are..

I used to fly with one of my nephews all the time. During one flight he was busy enchanting the surrounding passengers and one of the flight attendants. She brought him an extra "kids meal" instead of the regular healthy one so I had to change with him because he preferred my salad and stirfried chicken with broccoli. She was amazed as he smoothed his napkin on his lap, politely ate all the veggies and asked her for "more juice please, if it's convenient".

After that she asked him how old he was and he politely answered "I'm 4 years old, ma'am". There was a sudden chorus of "he's 4 years old???" from everyone around us.

After the flight attendant came back and set down his juice she commented on how polite and well spoken he was. He looked at her, winked flirtatiously and said "Thanks, Sweet stuff!"

He had everyone around him rolling!

Just when you think you know what to expect, eh?

I think I've mentioned somewhere that my entire lineage seems to be Prussian, ... the region now known as Germany. But my ex, she was a "Smith", the most common name on that island. I recall mostly Scottish, with one or two Anglo's tossed in. If you were to hear my girl speaking, you'd have to ramp up your listening speed by a factor of 3, and then still really try to cut past the accent and peculiar expressions.

*ahem* Everywhere I have lived, I aquire the local accent pretty quickly. And it never fully leaves when I moved to another. So there are days that I too have been taken for a Newfoundlander.

I don't seem to pick up the local accents.. everywhere I've lived I get asked where I'm from by locals who know I don't sound like them.. most guess "something European" though some just see the flaming red mane and assume Irish..

I have been on the phone a few times with Aye Beee, the pirate wench. She's born, raised and growing a family in Dublin. Believe me, they have a speed and accents aplenty that I doubt any North American could easily be mistaken for one.

I had never really thought of that though. With your travels, you must have developed a very adaptable ear, ... to hopefully understand what's coming at you.

After a moment of listening yes, but not so that I understand immediately.

The toughest time with accents I ever had was a 4-month USAF course I attended near Panama City, Florida. Six instructors, from nearly every corner and niche of your country. All that immediately come to mind was a Bostonian, a southern Alabamian, a Texan, and I believe one from California somewhere. Each new 'chapter' of the equipment we were learning, it would take an hour or three to tune the ear in. And by then, I had already missed a lot of information and had to second-guess as I went for a bit.

There were two other Canucks on the course with me, one from Acadian-French* part of New Brunswick. He had the hardest time adapting.


*yep, Acadian, the origins of the Cajuns ...*

deep south can be hard to understand.. I think any strong accent can be though..

I like to joke that us Canucks have no accent at all, that it's everyone else that has. But in reality, we do have quite a variety of them as you travel from end to end of this place. Sometimes even just from county to county.

here too, obviously.. and of course you get way into the recesses of Louisiana and many don't even speak English (only Cajun, a variation of Acadian French)

I've known Acadian Nova Scotians, New Brusnwickers, and a couple from 'le Bayou'. It's amazing what a century and distance does to change the linguistics.

Yes it does.

I was listening on NPR about a tribe of people who are still basically like cavemen. Their language is not rooted in anything anywhere, even the nearest of more modern dialects. I'm sure thousands of years ago it might have been similar to others but now it's considered totally unique because there has been no outside influence at all.

You've mentioned NPR before, and I'm sorry to say, I'm not familiar with the term ...

But as to the rest, it IS amazing how they still occassionally find a tribe somewhere. That has remained totally isolated even from others mere miles away.

NPR is National Public Radio - supported almost entirely by listeners donations... go to www.npr.org to listen to it online.. I usually listen to the local NPR station while I'm driving. Especially some of the weekend shows like "Car Talk" and "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me".. though the weekday informative stuff is very very interesting.