Saturday, August 05, 2006

Chopsticks

We have often jokingly said that my son must have been Chinese in a previous life. He will happily eat plain rice every day of the week, his favourite meal is rice and baked beans and he never tires of rice, rice, rice.

My sister-in-law brought the children back chopsticks from her visit to the States (as well as assorted, astoundingly cheap toys from Walmart). Now we are sure of it. Yesterday evening they decided to try out eating their supper with chopsticks, never having used or seen chopsticks being used in their life before. My son picked them up, exactly right and just started eating his rice and chicken, as if to the manner born. We were mildly gob-smacked! My six year old picked it up quite quickly with a bit of trial and error, and an extremely protracted supper ensued, with every grain of rice painstakingly cleared from plates, then a bowl of cut up apple embarked upon, then more grated apple - all with chopsticks. It was an hour later that they were at last persuaded to finish eating and go to bed, taking their chopsticks with them...who needs toys, you get more mileage out of a cheap pair of chopsticks!

9 comments:

  1. What does gob-smacked mean? I love this new "lingo"...Your son had a great time with the chopsticks! Beans and rice are yummy! Total comfort food. Will have to post my hot and spicy Louisiana Red Beans and Rice recipe. What other kinds of Walmart delights did your SIL bring back? We call walmart the W...hope your children are enjoying the toys. Lovely post!

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  2. Gob is Yorkshire (North of England) for mouth, so gob-smacked is a nice vulgar way of saying astounded...has more of a ring to it somehow!

    Walmart produced some Princess barbies for the girls(youngests first, but she actually wants a ballet Barbie - we'll have to track one down for her birthday), Lego ambulance and Bionicle for my son, plus other bits and pieces that made it like Christmas all over again. Grown-ups got those wonderful Ziplock freezer bags with actual zips, and some bargain DVDs including the Family Stone, which we love - all soooo cheap compared to here!

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  3. GOB-Smacked! LOVE this! Are you from the Yorkshire? Isn't that all moors and heather and where Wuthering Heights took place? Heathcliff and Cathy wandering the moors...I love that so! Someday a trip to the UK and Europe is in order! Then S. Africa...my husbands cousin and his wife lived in Johannesberg for several years. He was a wheel with a telecommunications company there. Now they are in Chicago with 2 new babies. They loved it there. Barbs and Legos are really popular here with the 8 and under set too. Zip Lock bags and DVD's...say the word Kit and I can send you those. Family Stone was hilarious! Great great movie! Let me know when you have a "hankering" for more Walmart goodies...xxoo

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  4. Thanks for the offer Jenny. It would be great to see you if you made it out here! Yes Yorkshire is Wuthering Heights country and James Herriot of the vet stories All Creatures Great and Small, don't know if that was shown over there. I'm not from Yorkshire, from Somerset in the South West, but the English language sure is enriched by dialect from all over!

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  5. Wow, that's impressive! Funny.

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  6. Your son is amazing. Truly..

    I am Chinese but I still have problem picking up sea cucumber with chopsticks. When I was younger, my grandfather used to correct my technique of holding the chopstick.

    It's wonderful to your children having fun with their chopsticks.

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  7. Same theory as the box the present came in. Crazy isn't it!

    I'm loving your son's talent in respect to the chopsticks, that definitely requires talent. I'm also a little jealous!

    fyi, I changed my blogger url as I realized I might be giving away too much personal info...
    5pennychewsthecud.blospot.com

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  8. Oh that's cute. We tried chopsticks a few times here... evidently no one here was Chinese in a past life! ;)

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  9. Ah to be there in that field of daisies, eating pancakes with chop sticks and listening to you whip up stories, Kit thanks for sharing your life, it is such a happy place!

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