The kid yesterday was very precocious. We were typing words on the screen so he could practice reading. I was impressed that he knew how to spell "yellow." Tough word, with all those l's and such.
At one point we were talking about video games and Super Mario Brothers came up. I happened to say the name "Mario" in the course of the conversation, in my typical New Jersey accent, with a soft "a."
He stopped me when I said it and gave me this *look.*
"It's MAHrio," he sternly corrected me.
Anyway, one of the perks with the swimming job is that I get to hang out with kids and listen to what's on their minds. It's often much more interesting that what adults have to say...
One of my favorite comments came from a kid who exclaimed, "A dolphin is a whale with a beak!" I really enjoyed the image that popped up into my head of a whale with a pointy nose strapped on with an elastic band.
Of course, sometimes these uninhibited exclamations can be difficult to hear. Case in point, the student I had in a private lesson once who blurted out, "My mommy's dead!"
Oh dear.