上学路上的对话节选

When both kids are in good moods, our morning can be very pleasant.

(At a corner)
Peter: Mama, did your car hit the curb?
Me: No, I did not.
Peter: Why?
Me: Because I am careful.
Peter: How about daddy? Did Daddy's car hit the curb?
Me: No, I don't think so. (the truth is, daddy doesn't even take this road on his way to work)
Peter: How about that car? How about that mini-van? How about...
Me: No car hit the curb. People are all careful.
Peter: Ohh..

Yaya: Peter, listen to this.
Peter: OK.
Yaya: I look high, I see the sky.
Peter: (trying to follow)...
Yaya: It rhymes, right?
Peter: yeah!
Yaya: When I go high, I see the sky; When I go down, I see the ground...
Me:Yaya, 这又是谁教你的？
Yaya: Nobody. 是我和我的Friend Sophie在玩Swing时，我自己想出来的.
Me: Good.
Yaya: Peter, remember this? "one, two, three, I can't see, ba-da-bo-di-so-fa-fee.."
Both kids: Hahahahhahaaaa....

Yaya: Mama, I know how to spell "KING" ---"K, L, N, G"
Me: Eh, it should be "K-I-N-G", not "L"
Yaya: But, see "Burger King"? They have little "L". Ohh, it looks same as big "I"... eh, this is funny, it should be "I", mommy?
Me: Right.

Peter: Mama, look, the same minivan!
Yaya: Yeah, look! the front! It even has the same color as ours!
Me: Yeah, that mini-van is exactly same as ours.
Yaya: But the other one straight ahead is different. Right mama? They do not have our color.
Me: Right.
......
Yaya: Mama, what if we come out to the parking lot, and we see two cars, both minivans, same color, look(ing) exactly the same, even their 牌牌(licence plate) are same, how can we find out which one is ours? Maybe we can take both cars, hahahaaaa...
Me: Eh, actually, even if 牌牌有一样的花花, they can still have different numbers (or letters). 还有如果咱们摁咱们的钥匙，只有咱家车的门会开。
Yaya: 为啥？　可是两个车车一模一样呀。连方向盘都一样.....
Peter: What? Mama, what are you saying?
Me: Peter, 姐姐是在问妈妈....(略去数段小对话，不知儿子是真懂了还是被搅晕了)...Yaya,等咱们停了车妈妈让你们看看钥匙上的齿，每个钥匙的pattern是不一样的，所以咱们的钥匙只开咱们的车门。好吗？
both kids: OK.

Peter: so many school buses, Yaya.
Yaya: Yes.
Peter: Why so many, yaya?
Yaya: because 它要送大哥哥大姐姐上学呀。Now it's fall, 学开了.
Me: (thinking hard), Yaya, you mean 开学了，Right?

Peter: Mama, why are you stopping?
Me: 让直行的车车go呀.
Peter: Why?
Me:因为咱们要转弯呀。
Yaya: Why?妈妈，为啥拐弯的车要让直行的车呀？
Me:因为这是交通规则呀。(Later, I realize this is not a very good answer.)

Yaya: Mama, walking is a pattern.
Peter: Why? mama? What is Yaya saying?
Me:姐姐说walking也是patterning, see, left, right, left, right...
Both kids: (marching very happily into school building)left, right,left, right, left,...