I spoke with my friend Gillian in Scotland the other day and she wondered if the "bah-koe" the boys were talking about in the latest video was their word for the telly. Nope. They're saying "back hoe", also known as a digger or an excavator. Anything to do with construction, be it a dump truck, a bulldozer or a man in a fluorescent jacket is dubbed "backhoe" in our home. And its a word that comes up probably every ten or fifteen minutes. I am not exaggerating. Our various car rides around the city seem to somehow consist of routes that pass by every single construction site going, so our conversations in the car sound roughly like this:
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Bah-koe, mummy. Bah-koe. Bah-koe. Bah-koe. MUMMY! BAH-KOE! DIG! DIG! DIG MUMMY!"
"Do you see a backhoe, William?"
"yeh."
"Is it digging?"
"ummmmmm, yeh!"
And repeat for Owen.
Part of the boys obsession with all things construction is due to their age and their gender, I think, but a very large part of it is due to the monster house being built across the street from us. This house was once a bungalow. And a very ugly, messy one at that. But it wasn't bothering us any. And then it went up for sale and whoever bought it decided to build what I can only describe as the house from hell. I'm not sure how long they have been building over there, but it is still in progress and is the bane of the entire street. A very messy work site, with loads of loud, rude workmen. I've seen the city there at least twice to shut down the worksite because its unsafe or not to code. I don't know who this house is being built for, but they've made many enemies on the street without even having set foot on it yet!
Having said all of that, there are two little people on our street who are thrilled with the eternal job site. Guess who that would be? These two monkeys would like nothing better than to sit in our driveway and watch the "bah-koe" all day long. This means that I have to be vaguely friendly towards the workcrew, who are usually okay with the boys (except for the odd outburst of sailor-standard cursing as we stand right there. HELLO?! Children in the vacinity!). There's one guy, this toothless wonder from out east who has "nine kids of me own, boy-oh" and who always crosses the street to come and talk to us. He has noticed the boys love of backhoes (hard not to when they're waving and yelling "Hiyeeeee! Hi bah-koe! Mummy! Mummy! Bah-koe!", and was kind enough to bring the mini skid steer over for the boys to look at and sit in. Will was in there like a shot, but Owen was suddenly shy. "No. No. No bah-koe" he said.
We've even discovered a TV show called Mighty Machines, which features real footage of construction vehicles on the job. The boys love, love LOVE this show - we have the "best of Mighty Machines on VHS that we've borrowed from a friend and which gets the open-mouthed seal of approval. So when I need a shower in the morning, I say the unthinkable:"boys, please go watch tv for mummy." Hey, whatever works, I keep telling myself. And maybe one day my boys will grow up to be...architects.
Will and Owen (and a headless Amber), admiring the machine.
Will getting ready to do a hard day's work
"did you see me, mummy? I was in the bah-koe!"
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Bah-koe, mummy. Bah-koe. Bah-koe. Bah-koe. MUMMY! BAH-KOE! DIG! DIG! DIG MUMMY!"
"Do you see a backhoe, William?"
"yeh."
"Is it digging?"
"ummmmmm, yeh!"
And repeat for Owen.
Part of the boys obsession with all things construction is due to their age and their gender, I think, but a very large part of it is due to the monster house being built across the street from us. This house was once a bungalow. And a very ugly, messy one at that. But it wasn't bothering us any. And then it went up for sale and whoever bought it decided to build what I can only describe as the house from hell. I'm not sure how long they have been building over there, but it is still in progress and is the bane of the entire street. A very messy work site, with loads of loud, rude workmen. I've seen the city there at least twice to shut down the worksite because its unsafe or not to code. I don't know who this house is being built for, but they've made many enemies on the street without even having set foot on it yet!
Having said all of that, there are two little people on our street who are thrilled with the eternal job site. Guess who that would be? These two monkeys would like nothing better than to sit in our driveway and watch the "bah-koe" all day long. This means that I have to be vaguely friendly towards the workcrew, who are usually okay with the boys (except for the odd outburst of sailor-standard cursing as we stand right there. HELLO?! Children in the vacinity!). There's one guy, this toothless wonder from out east who has "nine kids of me own, boy-oh" and who always crosses the street to come and talk to us. He has noticed the boys love of backhoes (hard not to when they're waving and yelling "Hiyeeeee! Hi bah-koe! Mummy! Mummy! Bah-koe!", and was kind enough to bring the mini skid steer over for the boys to look at and sit in. Will was in there like a shot, but Owen was suddenly shy. "No. No. No bah-koe" he said.
We've even discovered a TV show called Mighty Machines, which features real footage of construction vehicles on the job. The boys love, love LOVE this show - we have the "best of Mighty Machines on VHS that we've borrowed from a friend and which gets the open-mouthed seal of approval. So when I need a shower in the morning, I say the unthinkable:"boys, please go watch tv for mummy." Hey, whatever works, I keep telling myself. And maybe one day my boys will grow up to be...architects.
Will and Owen (and a headless Amber), admiring the machine.
Will getting ready to do a hard day's work
"did you see me, mummy? I was in the bah-koe!"
1 comment:
Maybe winter will bring some respite from the construction sites...maybe! The pics are too cute, can't wait to see you all at Thanksgiving!
xox
Post a Comment