That's French for "Mama says no!" When we lived in Africa, Jenny was a very little girl and was just learning to speak French. We had some floor cushions in the living room that she liked to strew around, despite that being a no-no. One morning while I was home-schooling Jim in the other room, I overheard the following conversation between Antoinette, our housekeeper, and Jenny.
Antoinette, seeing Jenny playing with the cushions: "Non, Jenny, Mama dit non."
Jenny, very emphatic: "Oui! Mama dit oui!"
"Non, Jenny, Mama dit non."
"Oui! Mama dit oui!"
This repeated several more times until someone gave up. I'm ashamed to say I couldn't back up Antoinette because I was laughing too hard in the other room. Guess who won that argument?
I thought of that little scenario the other day after I milked Siobhan and turned her and Macree loose to eat their alfalfa. Once the alfalfa was gone, Macree wanted to nurse.
Mama dit non.
Oui! Mama dit oui!
Non, Mama dit non!
Oui! Mama dit oui!
Non, Mama dit non!
Oui! Mama dit oui!
Non, Mama dit non!
Oui! Mama dit oui!
Non, Mama dit non!
In case you weren't sure how the story of Antoinette and Jenny ended up, it ended up pretty much the same way as the one above.
Siobhan reminds me of the French mothers we used to see in public parks.
"Mama's darling, time to go home." (Nothing happens.)
"Come right now, my little cabbage!" (Nothing happens.)
"I mean it, come right now!" (Nothing happens.)
"I'm going to count to 10 . . ." (Nothing happens.)
"If you don't come right now, you're going to be sorry!" (Nothing happens.)
The story was inevitably much longer, but eventually when the kids got tired of playing, they finally did go home in their own sweet time. (Although it's just possible that a few of them spent an occasional night in the park!) And no, maman never, ever made them sorry!
Despite her Irish name, Siobhan seems to be very French. I think she needs some help. And when Grandma says Macree is going to be sorry, you'd better believe she means it!
Antoinette, seeing Jenny playing with the cushions: "Non, Jenny, Mama dit non."
Jenny, very emphatic: "Oui! Mama dit oui!"
"Non, Jenny, Mama dit non."
"Oui! Mama dit oui!"
This repeated several more times until someone gave up. I'm ashamed to say I couldn't back up Antoinette because I was laughing too hard in the other room. Guess who won that argument?
I thought of that little scenario the other day after I milked Siobhan and turned her and Macree loose to eat their alfalfa. Once the alfalfa was gone, Macree wanted to nurse.
Non, Mama dit non!
Non, Mama dit non!
Oui! Mama dit oui!
Non, Mama dit non!
Oui! Mama dit oui!
Non, Mama dit non!
Siobhan reminds me of the French mothers we used to see in public parks.
"Mama's darling, time to go home." (Nothing happens.)
"Come right now, my little cabbage!" (Nothing happens.)
"I mean it, come right now!" (Nothing happens.)
"I'm going to count to 10 . . ." (Nothing happens.)
"If you don't come right now, you're going to be sorry!" (Nothing happens.)
The story was inevitably much longer, but eventually when the kids got tired of playing, they finally did go home in their own sweet time. (Although it's just possible that a few of them spent an occasional night in the park!) And no, maman never, ever made them sorry!
Despite her Irish name, Siobhan seems to be very French. I think she needs some help. And when Grandma says Macree is going to be sorry, you'd better believe she means it!
That's so funny, because just over the last few days I've been noticing that Sara seems to be in the process of gradually weaning Tundra, too. I was going to wait until it warms up a bit in March to separate them for weaning, but apparently Sara has her own ideas (as if we didn't know that already!). :)
ReplyDeleteI never noticed Sara wean Siobhan, but she certainly did. Siobhan just isn't as opinionated as Sara, which is why I figured she needed help. :) I wonder if this cold winter has made them ready to be relieved of nursing duty and grow the new babies? I was planning to wait till March, but then I have to be gone and won't be here to keep an eye on how it's going, so I figured maybe Siobhan knew best.
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