What Did You Hear?! What Did You Say?!

As I mentioned in a previous post, we attended the wedding of a former student of mine last Sunday. During the ceremony, the minister addressed the bride and groom several times using their first and last names. The bride's name, Rebecca Jordache, is Romanian and not pronounced as Americans would do it. Phonetically, it is pronounced YOR-A-DOCK-EE. Alyssa listened quietly as the minister continued preaching to the couple. Later, she asked me, "Why did the minister keep telling Rebecca she's a ducky?"

Her question threw me for a minute. I could not recall one instance in the entire ceremony when the minister had told the bride she was a "ducky." But, Alyssa was emphatic. She explained, "He kept saying 'Rebecca, you're a ducky! Rebecca, you're a ducky! And it wasn't nice. She looked so pretty!"

A week later, Maya gave us this gem.

My children and some of my nieces and nephews attend the same small school where I teach. The other day Maya asked me why her cousins had not yet arrived at school. I explained that they had a dentist appointment to go to and would be at school later. I went on to tell her that she and her sisters would soon be having dentist appointments as well. Armed with that information, she went running off to find her sisters. I overheard her saying, "The Petroviches (cousins) aren't here because they have a disappointment this morning. We're all going to have a disappointment soon too!"