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| Are the German lessons leading to her nudist behavior? |
She said, "tomorrow."
I replied, "No. that can't be right since tomorrow has not happened yet."
She said, "tomorrow!"
I thought about tomorrow already existing, and how an impression from then could appear now, and how life is if tomorrow already had been. After a minute, I picked up my phone and read Twitter while singing a song about 4 little ducks while frequently telling my kids to not splash so much.
Per usual routine, after baths and getting the baby in bed, I read to my daughter from a book of stories by Hans Christian Andersen. She really likes reading The Ugly Duckling. The first few times reading it I was skeptical since the ugly duckling has a dreadful start filled with terrible abuse; hunger, death and sadness, but the ending is so beautifully endearing I am a sucker for it as well.
Even though this story reads rather violently, it is the least offensive racially. Two other stories we read often, The Sheperdess and The Chimney sweep as well as The nightingale use the word Chinamen so frequently I am dumbfounded. I replace the word with Chinese man, but still that seems awkward, as it is othering a particular culture. My favorite part of The Nightengale is when the emperor threatens to punch everyone in the stomach after eating their supper if they don't find the bird. Thats hilarious, so worth doing some word swapping for. There also seems to be a fascination with Chinese people nodding. It is referenced once in The Nightingale, and frequently in The Sheperdess and The Chimney Sweep. The book really demonstrates how much more global we have become. The Far East is not foreign anymore, and I would have never associated excessive head nodding with Chinese culture, but an 1800's children's writer from Denmark, would see things much differently.
My daughter is not allowed to watch her TV show this week because she acted absolutely diabolical when I drove her to school on Thursday morning. In times where she isn't under punishment I will let her watch some Youtube videos when I am cooking dinner. I like to play her German nursery rhymes because it is good to start her on another language. I hear her singing these German songs in her car seat and it makes me laugh to myself because we both don't have any idea what she is saying. At the end of each video the screen populates with videos of similar liking, and she chooses another one. What I think is rather uncommon, but her absolute favorite youtube video, is bound to pop up after just a couple 2 minute nursery rhymes.
The video is a Disney Reviewer, and she insists I click on it every time. These videos bug me because they are 10 minutes long. The reviewer is anonymous, and apparently has the most hits on YouTube. This reeks of conspiracy theory. I thought that the reviewer was someone in China because she seems to have a Chinese accent, but since her hands are all thats seen, I was unable to get a sense of how often she nods (just kidding! its a great mystery to everyone, as the article says, which really only adds to the conspiracy theory).
All my daughter's Christmas presents from Santa were products that she watched on Disney Reviewers videos. She makes dresses out of play doh for little Disney dolls, and my daughter can watch this for hours! I have to stop the madness after 10 minutes though because it seems like a bizarre source of entertainment. Then again, we are reading a bedtime story about a swan whose life begins in the most dreary way imaginable; runs away from home after enduring horrific bullying, watches wild geese get shot dead in front of him, freezes in a lake, and finds himself getting kicked and chased by humans.
Even though this story reads rather violently, it is the least offensive racially. Two other stories we read often, The Sheperdess and The Chimney sweep as well as The nightingale use the word Chinamen so frequently I am dumbfounded. I replace the word with Chinese man, but still that seems awkward, as it is othering a particular culture. My favorite part of The Nightengale is when the emperor threatens to punch everyone in the stomach after eating their supper if they don't find the bird. Thats hilarious, so worth doing some word swapping for. There also seems to be a fascination with Chinese people nodding. It is referenced once in The Nightingale, and frequently in The Sheperdess and The Chimney Sweep. The book really demonstrates how much more global we have become. The Far East is not foreign anymore, and I would have never associated excessive head nodding with Chinese culture, but an 1800's children's writer from Denmark, would see things much differently.
My daughter is not allowed to watch her TV show this week because she acted absolutely diabolical when I drove her to school on Thursday morning. In times where she isn't under punishment I will let her watch some Youtube videos when I am cooking dinner. I like to play her German nursery rhymes because it is good to start her on another language. I hear her singing these German songs in her car seat and it makes me laugh to myself because we both don't have any idea what she is saying. At the end of each video the screen populates with videos of similar liking, and she chooses another one. What I think is rather uncommon, but her absolute favorite youtube video, is bound to pop up after just a couple 2 minute nursery rhymes.
The video is a Disney Reviewer, and she insists I click on it every time. These videos bug me because they are 10 minutes long. The reviewer is anonymous, and apparently has the most hits on YouTube. This reeks of conspiracy theory. I thought that the reviewer was someone in China because she seems to have a Chinese accent, but since her hands are all thats seen, I was unable to get a sense of how often she nods (just kidding! its a great mystery to everyone, as the article says, which really only adds to the conspiracy theory).
All my daughter's Christmas presents from Santa were products that she watched on Disney Reviewers videos. She makes dresses out of play doh for little Disney dolls, and my daughter can watch this for hours! I have to stop the madness after 10 minutes though because it seems like a bizarre source of entertainment. Then again, we are reading a bedtime story about a swan whose life begins in the most dreary way imaginable; runs away from home after enduring horrific bullying, watches wild geese get shot dead in front of him, freezes in a lake, and finds himself getting kicked and chased by humans.
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| Mom's German lesson: Bier ist gut |
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