I love kid-speak.  Sometimes.  When it doesn’t involve too many references to bodily functions.  Kelly is still in the land of mispronounciations, which is just plain sweet.  Sara, on the other hand, sees the world in her own, unique frame of reference, freely making up words and phrases, and just assuming the rest of us can follow along.  Below is their recent short list I’d rather not forget:

Kelly:

Triblets: the real word is triplets.  I begged Sara not to correct her, but the cat is out of the bag.

Hot Toffics: That horrible store in the mall that sells scary-awful-ugly teenage things.  You may know it as Hot Topics.  You may also agree that it is awful.

India City: You will know it better as the country of India, and Kelly will tell you it’s a place full of people with beautiful skin who like to eat spices, shop in malls, and wear human clothes.  Not clothes made of humans…let’s clarify.  That’s something for Hot Toffics.  No, she is simply shocked that on the other side of the world are people who wear clothes, just like us. Her understanding is all people in India live in a large city, and therefore, they live in India City.  Why does Mommy not agree with this summary?

Mexico: A place so diverse in its spelling, she can argue how it fits into any round of “Geography”.  Even if she is assigned the letter “g”, she will make the case for Mexico being her answer.  It’s an impressive feat, usually summarized by a scream and a pout when we don’t agree.  Another facet of Kelly game-playing: if you ever play 20 Questions with her, and she answers “yes” to “is it a place?”, she is thinking of Mexico.  I can guarantee this fast win for you, and you’re welcome.

Sara:

Fifle Your Shoes: To tie your laces 5x.  Usually reserved for Skechers, which come with abnormally long laces.  Why Skechers? Why? But I digress.  Let me use this phrase in context: We played “Trash in the Yard” in gym today, and you can’t win that game unless your shoes are fifled.  Otherwise, you’ll trip and lose. What IS Trash in the Yard? I have no idea.  I’m assuming its a cross between Israeli Dodgeball and some sort of minefield.  Not overly maudlin considering they used to play Malaria.

The Coolest Thing Ever Said, Done, or Owned: Pertaining to all things related to Cousin Avery.  She is the Gold-Standard by which Cool is measured. In fact, if you visit the Bureau of International Des Poids et Mesures, you will simply see a picture of Avery with a bronze plaque underneath stating, “Cool”.

Group-In: Perhaps my favorite of Sara’s invented sayings; to group-in is for a clique of 2 to expand and include more than just each other in their play.  It’s a 2-zees turning into a 3-zees or a 4-zees or a 5-zees.  If you have children, I need not explain how all things numerical end in “zee”.  Except for the number 8, which must be accompanied by a giggle and the pronouncement that you “ATE IT”!  I have adopted this phrase and use it generously to state we should spread the love, and include as many people as we can.  Let’s Group-In everyone! Sara is the master of the group-in, and she lives this motto.  On a playground, I think Sara is the gold standard of cool.

Force Field: A phrase to which every woman will instantly relate: a force field is Sara’s reference to the phenomenon of accompanying a friend to the bathroom, entirely certain that you don’t need to pee, but once you get in there, you suddenly have the desperate urge to pee.  Sometimes referred to as “the pee pee force field of the public restroom”.  According to Sara, no law of physics known by man can explain this mysterious pull.  It just is, and we should accept it.