New Catchphrases

Ainsley's got some new catchphrases. Some new lingo, if you will.

On vacation, every time she encountered a new experience that she liked or saw something really cool, she came up with:

"I love myself!"

Seeing as how the whole beach and ocean thing were filled with new experiences that awed and impressed, we heard it a lot.

Now, I am the first to admit that a healthy dose of self-esteem is a good thing, and that it's better to be happy with who you are than to roll about in self-loathing like I've done for a majority of my life. Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all. After all, I do believe the children are our future.

But after hearing a five year old say, and sometimes sing, "I love myself! I looooove myself! I lovelovelovelove myself and my mommy and da--aaddy!"--well, it gets old after a while. So we had to tell her to cool it. At least in public, where people will think she's conceited.

We already know she's conceited. (Kidding! Part of what's baffling about this is that prior to vacation, all I heard was, "I hate my glasses! I hate my hair! I want long hair! I want to be a good swimmer! I want to look like Gabriella! And so on. I don't know which is more annoying.)

Then there's the Ainsley Wave Classification System.

Completely on her own, she came up with some new names for different types of waves. As she played in the ocean, each wave that crashed into her back, or lifted her up, or went over her head, was classified as a "Splat", a "Jiggle", or a "Jink."

And like most Ainsley catchphrases, there was a little song that went with it. Which we heard, like all these things, A LOT.

Yesterday I took her to the zoo (not nearly as event-filled as last year's trip) and at every exhibit, I heard Ainsley as surfer girl:

"Awe-SOME!"

Not a new catchphrase, I know, but the way she says it almost comes out more as a sneeze than a verification of greatness. I am still trying to figure out what Disney kiddie sitcom character she's heard say that word that way, 'cause it's not an inflection I hear around our house.

I heard "Awe-SOME!" roughly every 2.3 seconds for six hours. Even the cheese coney she had for lunch was Awe-SOME! The only thing that was decidedly not AweSOME! was the 4-D Planet Earth movie where her seat shook and water squirted out of the seat in front of her and we had to get up and leave 5 minutes in because loud noises and unexpected 4-D effects cause meltdowns in my child.

The thing with her catchphrases is that they get stuck in my head. Especially since she sets them to music.

As I write, I keep singing the "I love myself!" song, and as Jason plays Guitar Hero while I type, I cheer him on with "AweSOME!". Tonight I will dream of Splats, Jiggles, and Jinks and sing the "Splat....Jiggle...JINK!" rhyme in my sleep.

Thanks, Ains, for you way with words. By posting them, perhaps they will catch on at your houses, dear readers. In the meantime, tell me something that will get these words out of my head.