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Foreshore, For Sure
Paul Fairweather 2017
Urdle was my son Nicholas’s first word. For ages, Kara and I had no idea of what he was trying to say? I discovered the answer some months later on a visit to the Queensland Museum as we passed the Great Barrier Reef exhibit. He let out an almighty URDLE from his pram, furiously pointing at a giant green turtle on the wall. His excitement in seeing a real, albeit deceased, turtle, was evident, but there was also an exact intonation in the way he said it. “This is what I have been trying to tell you!”
I recently heard a woman tell a story about trying to communicate with her teenage son. They both had long days, and she picked him up from sports practice, and she was trying to find out what sort of takeaway he wanted. Getting no suggestions from him, she was further frustrated when his responses were either grunts or a yeah or whatever!
In exasperation, she declared that with every answer he must add a please or thank you. Within minutes he was not only adding the pre-requisite contractions, but they were also both laughing and having a conversation.
Paul Fairweather 2020
With my kids, I frequently get a “sure”, or if they are incredibly energetic or verbose, and “yeah sure” and when I repeat the question, it is…
