In the Childrens' Vernacular

Words have a long trail

I tried to go back in my mind and recall the vernacular of my youth. I certainly need the help of my siblings on this one. Here is a humble attempt at what my tender little ears would hear from the adults and the siblings:

Stop that or you’ll be in Dutch

You’re cruising for a bruising

I’m telling dad

I’m telling dad

I’m telling dad

Go get a switch from the tree

Quiet down or I’m coming up there

Children should be seen, but not heard

You’re going to get a whipping

And in later years from our beloved mother

You can’t have a dream come true if you don’t have a dream

Good Luck, Bad Luck who knows?

I feel lower than an ant’s sandal.

Love one and other.

When you wake up ask the question, ‘I wonder what wonderful thing will happen to be today?”

Words have always had an overly large influence in my life. I remember memorizing a poem on the wall in our living room.

For flowers that bloom about our feet

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet

For Song of bird and hum of bee

Father in Heaven we thank thee.

Then there was the grace that preceded each meal.

Bless us, O Lord, for these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ our Lord we pray. Amen.

At night we would kneel by our beds and say the famous prayer;

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take.

Words were everywhere and I would grab at them like candy in a candy jar. I wanted to think about them, find their place in the perplexity of life, and learn.

I would welcome my sibling’s contributions to the vocabulary we were subjected too and the wisdom that ensued. I often think that the colorful language and expressive ways of our clan is why I grew up to love the written word.