conuly

Theoretically, if we do stuff like this enough we'll improve Evangeline's phonemic awareness.

Eva said phone.
I said fish.
Ana said foam.

Eva said (after thought and some prompting) firetruck.
I said frog.
Ana said fire.

Evangeline needed some help, so I suggested "something you shouldn't do... fff... f..." and I pretended like I was about to punch her, angling for "fight" of course.

Evangeline: Fuck?

This is where I died.

Evangeline: No, no - punch!

Ana: No, fuck starts with an f. I think she meant fight. Yeah, fight!

Me: *still dead*

Once I recovered, I reminded Evangeline that she's not supposed to say fuck, and so that therefore I would never try to direct her to that word. Ana asked why, so I explained that we don't say "fuck" because it's an impolite way of talking about having sex.

Ana: Wait - it is? I thought it was just something you said when you were angry! Like, today when you sent me for the paper towels, I said "I don't CARE about the fucking paper towels!"

Ana was also reminded she's not supposed to use that word, of course. *headdesk*

And yes, I explained that since sex deals with private parts, words used to describe it are often considered impolite because it shouldn't come up in public anyway. But it's also, Ana, a word you say when you're angry... mostly because you're not supposed to be saying it anyway. This explanation, surprisingly, seems to have made perfect sense to her.