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Phoebe rushed in to see me after bedtime, full of energy and herself. "I've found a word that rhymes with orange," she told me.
She'd clearly heard the fact that nothing rhymes with orange and had decided that she was the one to crack that where everyone else had failed, like some kind of Eminem. Sure no one has ever satisfactorily done it with a word that isn't a name (or created for the purpose), but maybe an 8 year old would manage it.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Forange" she proudly declaimed. Check mate.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"You know, speaking a different language."
"Foreign?" I asked.
Her face dropped and she left the room defeated without saying another word. I didn't tell her that for a second I thought she'd got it with a word I wasn't aware of or that I did wonder if Foreignge might be the verb for talking an foreign language. It's at the very least a shortening of the two words combined.
I mainly just loved her confidence and then felt a bit guilty for crushing it. Should I have said, "Wow, you cracked it!" or is it better to be honest?
I don't want to crush her dreams and I think she might be powerful enough to make her made up word a real word.
For the moment she still believes in Father Christmas, despite some challenging queries about it last year (from her, not me. I'm not that much of a monster). I am 100% certain that when she finds out the truth she will ruin it for her brother though!
He deserves it though. He's never drunk Coca Cola (neither of the kids have been keen to try sugary drinks and Phoebe only drinks water and sometimes milk, though Ernie is a fan of the occasional Fruit Shoot) and has obviously heard it's great from a schoolmate. He keeps saying "I want a Cola Coke!" The fucking idiot. I am going to get him one though, but I am not going to tell him the proper name. The family still call Maple syrup, April syrup, so let's see how long we can keep this one going.
