This afternoon, I was sitting with Zebra Boy trying to keep him occupied, never the easiest of tasks. And then for some reason, he came up with the phrase “elegant vowel” and followed it with “a, e, i, o, u” in a musing sort of way, as if he was trying them out – which one was most worthy of the description.
Now, you will find no-one more inclined to proclaim the genius of my children than myself, but “elegant” isn’t a word I would expect ZB to use. There was something about the way he phrased it though that nagged at me. I’d heard it somewhere before.
Eventually he repeated it, followed by “how charmingly sweet you sing!”
The Owl and the Pussycat is a family favourite that ZB’s known by heart since he was wee. My mum told it to me and I told it to my two, and we’ve always added a kind of cat-like purring to the “You elegant fowl” line that ZB caught and repeated, replacing the final word.
I’ve heard him repeat the poem on umpteen occasions correctly so I have no idea why or how he came up with “elegant vowels”, chuffed to bits though I am.
I have no doubts however, that the time and effort spent telling stories and reciting poems to our children will be repaid a thousand fold in allowing them to understand and play with the language we demand they use.
