My Daughter Called Me MUM!

Yes, it happened.  Amelia called me, "Mum".  I just blew it off the first time, but she kept saying it.  When I asked her why she decided to call me "Mum" instead of "Mom", she replied, "That's the way they say it here and I like it."  I have no problem with the word "Mum", but it sounds strange coming from my own child.

Amelia even knows how to spell Mum.  It is everywhere...on birthday cards, in her books from school and even on a set of sight word magnets I bought for her.  Even though I am not used to the sound of it, I have to look at the bright side.  It is almost like my children are learning a foreign language, which is great for their language development.

Most people think the British accent sounds desirable.  Everyone thinks of movie stars and their beautiful delivery of the English language.  I do not mind the accent, but it is hard for me to hear my own children changing their inflections and words.  Dylan picked up on the accent and several new words after just a few months in school here.  When we went to St. Louis this summer, my brother was Uncle "Don" instead of Dan.  That is just one example, but Dylan truly sounded different to everyone.  By the end of our 3 1/2 week visit, he lost most of his British accent, thankfully.

Now that Dylan and Amelia have been in school for 6 weeks, they both have changed their inflections and a few words.  Sometimes it's not the words they are actually saying but the WAY they are saying the words.  Their voices go up at the end of a sentence.  Dylan's new favorite words are "rubbish" and "massive".  Eric and I just smile about it.  I know they will lose the accent when we move back to the states.

A while back, I posted some words that are different here in England.  Here are some more...

BRITISH ENGLISH                      AMERICAN ENGLISH
rubbish                                           bad/terrible
rubber                                            eraser (Imagine my face when Dylan asked me for a rubber!)
fizzy disco                                       dance party
quiz night                                        trivia night
nappy                                             diaper
cot                                                  crib
plaster                                            bandaid
diary                                               calendar/planner
trainers                                           tennis shoes
jumper                                           sweatshirt
dinner                                             lunch
tea                                                  dinner
crisps                                              chips
chips                                               french fries
bin                                                  trash can
car park                                          parking lot
stabilizers                                        training wheels
"zed"                                               letter "z"
surgery                                           doctor's office
garden                                            yard
wooly                                             unclear/vague
holiday                                           vacation
que                                                  line
lemonade                                       Sprite
cloudy lemonade                           American lemonade as we know it (which is hard to find here)

Here are some pictures from their first day of school in September.  All schools here wear uniforms.  It makes life easier as a parent.