The Annoying Habits of Grandparents - Part One

Let me start off by saying that I love both sets of my kids’ grandparents very much. However, they both have certain tendencies that drive me bananas. My mother-in-law has one habit that is rubbing off on my two year old daughter, Chloe. It is her very annoying southern drawl. I have quite the southern accent myself but this lady butchers every word she says.

For instance, take the word “hat”. How can you manage to totally destroy a three letter word with only one syllable? Phonetically speaking, it only has three sounds - /h/ /a/ and /t/. So can anyone explain to me how in the world my mother-in-law can get two syllables out of those three simple sounds? Instead it comes out something like high-yat. Actually, more like high-yaaaaat. Make sure you hold out the last syllable for a full two or three seconds.

A while back, I purchased the Your Baby Can Read series by Dr. Titzer. My two-year old loves to watch the videos, but enjoys the flashcards the most. One of the words is “clap”. I was going through the cards with her the other day and I was really excited because she is beginning to recognize quite a few of the words. However, when we get to the word “clap” my little girl says — cla-yaaap. I am now noticing that my daughter is doing this a lot with words that have the short a sound.

To be fair, my side of the family is equally southern. One of my dad’s favorite expressions is “big ole” this and “big ole” that. Look at that “big ole dog”. That is a “big ole truck”. Chloe has picked up on the expression too. However, she has modified it. Her version is “big ole happy” this and “big ole happy” that. To make matters worse, I caught myself saying “big ole” today. Unfortunately, my wife caught me and won’t let alone.

Is anyone else having trouble with their local dialect? Also, what habits are your parents passing down to your children? Please post your stories in the comments section. I would love to here them.