Friday, May 22, 2009

You done good Kate

I am a bit obsessive about being grammatically correct. I should clarify that I am so about certain grammatical things. Those would be the things that have nothing to do with the fact that I tend to ping-pong from 1st to 3rd person when I write and typically am equally challenged by remaining in either the past or present tense. Those have much more to do with the fact that I type of fast as I think (certainly a handicap) and often I am thinking about the next sentence prior to finishing the one that I am on. But besides those minor hiccups, I am an absolute expert in all things grammar. Or, perhaps I am just a smidge anal and tend to focus on a handful of common errors that make me want to pull my hair out strand by strand … by agonizing strand.

I must admit, I didn’t realize just how out of control my minor obsession had gotten. The other day, Kate was enthusiastically slaughtering the Kidz rendition of Big Girls Don’t Cry. I sarcastically, err I mean cheerily inquired, “Kate, are you going to be a singer when you grow up?”

“Yes mom, because I sing very well,” she replied.

She’s been infected with the grammar gene and may soon join the nerd squadron with her mother. Either that or she’ll be thoroughly confused by the majority of the population who use ‘good’ instead and miffed by the thought that her mother KNOWS NOTHING.

I won’t be worried until I hear, “Mother Dearest, where art my playdough?”

Feel free to share, what things drive you crazy? It's quite cathartic and commenting here removes that unhealthy obsession from being projected onto the children ...

10 comments:

Call Me Cate said...

My biggy is still "could care less". Oh, it makes me so want to punch people right in the face. Twice even.

I know the difference between good and well. But too many years of saying it incorrectly have made it a hard habit to break.

Nothing wrong with geeking your kid out with proper grammar. Beats geeking them out with so many other things...

Ann Imig said...

If I open the lid on this you'll get a tome.

I hope you enjoyed that ten-cent word.

Bea said...

i hate 'youse'. especially in the sentence "oy youse lot" that doesn't even make sense!

*deep breath*
i knew someone who used to always look around and say "i don't see any sheep around here..."

Peggy's Place said...

Not using 'to, too, two' correctly. There, their, and they're drive me nuts. Alot instead of a lot, god, I'm anal too.

Michel said...

dude, I totally have to print out the emails my father sends me and mark all the grammatical and spelling errors wrong - I usually send it back to him with a "72% try again"

I'm an anal freak too, and yet my blog is a big ole mess. Go figure!

Claire said...

I fear I may disown my daughter if she ever misuses "your" and "you're".

My other thing? Throwing cigarette butts out your window thinking that they magically don't count as trash or littering. Then again, if Laura is a smoker she will also be dead (killed by me), so it won't really be an issue.

Anonymous said...

oooooh, the grammar drives me nuts as well. so does writing without capitals, though, and I do that all the time ;-).
oh, and smiley faces drive me nuts too.

Jeanne Estridge said...

Although I'm hardly Housewife of the Year, the feel of gritty stuff on my kitchen floor drives me batshit. I can live with a certain amount of dirt (which is good, because I have two large dogs who love to wander in and out) but grit beneath my shoes (or bare feet, for that matter) gives me a nervous twitch that sends me running for the broom and dustpan.

Christina-Marie Wright said...

Oh, I get all riled up about all sorts of abominations of language.

In fact, I blogged about it on my Motherhood: From Egg to Zine column: http://me2zchristinamariewright.blogspot.com/2009/04/education-limbo-how-low-can-you-go.html

I was pleased to find that many agreed with me, and I am pleased to learn that your child will not be one of the victims of the dumbing-down of America. :)

Marinka said...

Oy. I can't stand when people write "word" in agreement. Like nails on a chalkboard. Which, incidentally, I never minded.