Pride in a punster-in-training

I am so proud of my son.  I’m proud of his sweetness, his inventiveness, his sensitivity and kindness and sharing, his developing musical interests, his articulateness.

And I’m also proud that he often hears words as I often do — as sounds in addition to their functions as sensical communicative symbols.  What do I mean by this?  Well, basically, this almost-three-year-old is a punster-in-training who has the instinctive ear to turn a phrase.  This makes certain life-moments fun:

• In the car, when Karly and I were discussing a wind band piece by composer Frank Ticheli (pronounced tih-KELL-ee), Jedd piped up from the back, asking if we meant Karly’s sister Kelly.  After a laugh, Karly said, “Jedd, you’re remarkable.”  To which he queried, “You mean our Mark?”  (We have a college friend named Mark.)
• A few days later, we walked into the house after his bedtime.  He was making conversation, not taking his shoes off, etc.  One of us said, “Jedd, you’re stalling.”  He asked, “You mean like a horse’s stall?”

Jedd has a great future ahead in causing groans among his friends.  And his ear for sound and words is a delight.

P.S.  Allen Reynolds, are you out there?  I give you a lot of credit for developing this pun(ishment) thing in me back in DE and PA.  In the words of Richard Lederer, “get thee to a punnery,” and keep this skill alive!

The Gershwins’ call

In the words of Ira Gershwin (with music by Tin Pan Alley songster and brother George) … who could ask for anything more?

I have a little boy who, pretty much every morning, when I walk into his room between 7 and 8, lifts his head and immediately says, “Oh, good morning!”

Not only is he pleasant and personable, but he also apparently has my penchant for wordplay.  A couple of weeks ago, he gently poked Karly with a stick a couple of times and then queried, “Mom, I sticked you.  Are you sticky?”

Who knew someone less than 2.5 years old could be a punster?  :-)

Thank You, God, for this delightful boy.  Oh, and help Karly as she has to keep up with his energies for many more hours per day than I do.