29 May 2011

Lyrical Wisdom

"I figured it out!" The shout traveled the breadth of my home and shook its very foundation.

My daughter, who was in my office trying to solve Sudoku puzzles with breakfast cereal as markers (to add an extra challenge, I ate all the green clovers while she wasn't looking), came out sounding excited. "What?!?"

"Well, 'hokey' means 'fake' or 'fraudulent'..."

"Okay."

"And 'pokey' is slang for 'prison' or 'jail cell'..."

"I don't like where this is head..."

"So you can stick your right foot in. And put your right foot out. Any time you want, because the cell doors don't really lock."

"There's something wrong with..."

"You put your right foot in, and you shake it all about. It's a hokey pokey, so you can turn yourself about and walk right out of there."

"Ashley..."

"But... That's what it's all about!"

I might not have gotten through to her this time, but at least that song is now stuck in her head. I think of it as "hands-on parenting".

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