"MOONA" That's the new word in Frankie's vocabulary and for those of you not familiar with "Spanglish" (mix of English and Spanish) it would mean either moon or luna, depending what language you are speaking. Of course, it's not a real word in either language - at least not one that Cervantes or Shakespeare would accept anyway - but it's real to Frankie and now to me too. Frankie used this "combination-word" when playing with a shape sorter and he found a purpple half moon; right away he yelled, MOONA! These days, I take what I can get when it comes to Frankie using words, ANY kind of words, especially if it makes perfect sense and if it's accompanied by "...it's missing a piece and it's in the island." Of course, this is word approximation but close enough that I understood what he meant. Over the weekend, he watched the Moonlight Rescue episode of Diego and it dealt with the moon being hit by a falling star. The moon broke into a few pieces and some got scattered in the nearby islands. Diego sets off to find the pieces so the moon can shine again and he can help the baby turtles find their way into the sea. Blah, blah, blah, I know it's boring but it's made for kids so deal with it! Bottom line, Diego refers to the moon as LUNA and of course this stuck with Frankie, unfortunately, somehow it mixed with MOON, which was a word he was already saying before he watched the Diego episode. I tried to explain to him that "moona" was not the right word for moon but he wouldn't budge! Like any Hispanic mom, I don't want my kids to forget their heritage and I am trying really hard for the two little ones to learn Spanish and for Rebecca not to forget it - it's not easy when the grandparents are not around to bail you out AND when you are not living in Miami anymore, where EVERYONE and their mother (and sister and brother and cousin, and neighbor...) will speak to you in Spanish! Sooooo, in order to compensate for the lack of "Spanish speakers" around my kids, I guess I have been TIVOing too many Diego's and Dora's at this point. I am afraid I have created my own household edition of "Spanglish" syndrome for my kids but who cares? Frankie will grow up and I can explain things better for him to understand the difference between the two languages. For the time being, MOONA will be part of his games and I will enjoy every minute of it!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Moona
"MOONA" That's the new word in Frankie's vocabulary and for those of you not familiar with "Spanglish" (mix of English and Spanish) it would mean either moon or luna, depending what language you are speaking. Of course, it's not a real word in either language - at least not one that Cervantes or Shakespeare would accept anyway - but it's real to Frankie and now to me too. Frankie used this "combination-word" when playing with a shape sorter and he found a purpple half moon; right away he yelled, MOONA! These days, I take what I can get when it comes to Frankie using words, ANY kind of words, especially if it makes perfect sense and if it's accompanied by "...it's missing a piece and it's in the island." Of course, this is word approximation but close enough that I understood what he meant. Over the weekend, he watched the Moonlight Rescue episode of Diego and it dealt with the moon being hit by a falling star. The moon broke into a few pieces and some got scattered in the nearby islands. Diego sets off to find the pieces so the moon can shine again and he can help the baby turtles find their way into the sea. Blah, blah, blah, I know it's boring but it's made for kids so deal with it! Bottom line, Diego refers to the moon as LUNA and of course this stuck with Frankie, unfortunately, somehow it mixed with MOON, which was a word he was already saying before he watched the Diego episode. I tried to explain to him that "moona" was not the right word for moon but he wouldn't budge! Like any Hispanic mom, I don't want my kids to forget their heritage and I am trying really hard for the two little ones to learn Spanish and for Rebecca not to forget it - it's not easy when the grandparents are not around to bail you out AND when you are not living in Miami anymore, where EVERYONE and their mother (and sister and brother and cousin, and neighbor...) will speak to you in Spanish! Sooooo, in order to compensate for the lack of "Spanish speakers" around my kids, I guess I have been TIVOing too many Diego's and Dora's at this point. I am afraid I have created my own household edition of "Spanglish" syndrome for my kids but who cares? Frankie will grow up and I can explain things better for him to understand the difference between the two languages. For the time being, MOONA will be part of his games and I will enjoy every minute of it!
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