Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Hank Raises An Objection

Last week I was trying to get everyone ready to leave town for my cousin's wedding.  I asked Hank to come try on his khakis, as he hadn't worn them in months, because he likes to keep it casual.

He ran across the living room and hurled himself face-first onto the couch, whined into the cushions, then slid down onto the floor like a boneless chicken cutlet.  I said, "Dude! What's wrong?"

He said, "I don't want to go to that wedding."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because it's too dignicating."

"It's too what?" I asked.

 He repeated, "Because it's too dignicating."

(I'm just spelling the word the way it sounded when he said it.  I am not sure if that's how it's correctly spelled in his Hank lexicon.)

I said, "What is dignicating?"

He said, "It is something that you don't wanna do."  Then he sighed.

The thing is, if I were a kid, I'd be exasperated with parents too, because we ask questions for which we already know the answers.  I knew exactly what "dignicating" meant the first time he said it: it obviously means a situation that imposes a state of unwanted dignity and correctness in dress, behavior, or decorum.  The etymology of his coinage was perfectly clear, like Sarah Palin's "refudiate."  Yet I wouldn't have guessed that Hank knew or even half knew "dignified" or "dignity."  But I guess he does?

Watching kids acquire language is my second favorite part of this parenting biz.  My most favorite part is eating the leftover mac and cheese off their plates.

I coaxed him into the khakis, which still fit.  And he went to the church nursery with his cousins during the ceremony, where I trust he was not overly dignicated.  He did sit nicely through the rehearsal dinner the night before.  He sat there like a dream through people making toasts, quietly dignicating some dessert.

Hank

Here are a few more snaps from the wedding weekend I wanted to share.  I go out of town for two days and you have to hear about it all week.  I know!

us

Here Matt is sporting Laura's feather hair barrette, which she'd tired of and clipped to his shirt. I told him he looked like he'd been decorated by a really awesome chivalric order.


dad and me
Me with my dad, known to blog readers as Camp Papa. 
mom
Debbie, my very own mom.

matt
My date.
matt and katie
Kate, adorable sister-in-law.
getting low
Shorties got low.
Green Cake
Color scheme was apple green and pink. Preppy!
If you have scrolled through these wedding posts and now feel that you know my family enough to want to see more pics of us hanging out in my mother's kitchen, and also a rainbow I photographed, click here.

I hope you are having a good week with little dignication.

11 comments:

Elizabeth said...

That's so sweet. And I'm with you on the language acquisition -- it's a marvel and sometimes outrageous and hilarious!

Calandreya said...

One of my favorites from my daughter's childhood, though not as creative as dignicating, is, "Beg your apartment."

Jenni said...

The language acquisition is my second favorite part too, though I prefer grilled cheese crusts to leftover mac and cheese.

I think that if parents have a good and diverse vocabulary, their kids do too. Like,if I ask Oscar how school is he'll say, "Good, but I'm still a little bit nervous," and I think "nervous" is a pretty complicated feeling/emotion for a 3 y.o. don't you? But he obviously knows what it means, and it certainly fits his situation.

PS - That Matt is such a dream boat. He really cleans up nicely. And your parents? Cute!

My Kids' Mom said...

I loved language acquisition, but the spelling acquisition is easier to save. I just kept a scrap of paper which said "cangerageelashuns!" crossed out and "gud luk!" written instead.

Amy said...

"Dignicated" is truly a fantastic word. Sort of dignified and denigrated and indignant all rolled into one. I could totally see myself using it!

He looks like he survived the dignication of it quite well. What a classic Hank story! And that is a great pic if you and Matt. oh, and please ask Katie to mail me her dress. Thanks!

"Gud luck" as a substitute is hilarious!

Keely said...

Ooh, that cake is super cute! As is your entire family :)

I love the language acquisition. Followed closely by it's imaginative application.

Rebekah said...

I love the words they come up with too. For a long time when Katherine was 4, she always said "villy," a combination of very and really, so she was an American child, living in German, speaking with a Russian accent. Sloan makes up his own words too, but he doesn't have a good excuse like being a toddler.

Michele R said...

What a great photo of you and Matt, and I love that purple feather on his heart.

Zion said...

My favorite from my then 2 year old is that he was disappointed... so disa really pointed.

You should have gotten video footage of the rainbow along with some ecstatic commentary and then posted it on youtube. I hear those are big right now. ;)

Common Household Mom said...

I'm with Hank. I don't like having to get all dignicated. But unlike Hank, it's 'cause my dignicating clothes usually don't fit. Maybe I should go with khakis.

Kate said...

We had so much fun with you guys. I always love it when we can all get together. Laura and Hank partied hard, didn't they? Good times.