Interruptering the Perpetrator

Not long ago I wrote about hanging on to the cute little things that our youngest utters. Well, around the dinner table especially we tend to step on each other's stories. We're trying to break this habit, but it still happens.

The other day he started a story and a sister jumped in to interject something. He scrunched up his eyebrows and wrinkled his nose. "Stop interruptering me!" he shouted. "You're always interruptering me!"

"I'm sorry we keep interruptering you," one of us said. "We'll try to stop."

Another added, "It's not polite to keep interruptering, is it?"

We just can't help ourselves. Even when he's irritated and "aggervated," he's so charming. We all cling to these words and phrases, repeating them with a grin. This morning we all ate "opa-meal," for example. Tomorrow we may make "pampakes."

Another language development curiosity is how accurately he memorizes and applies phrases from movies. We were in the car waiting in a parking lot when an unpleasant odor presented itself. "Hey! Who did that?" I demanded.

"I am not the perpetrator!" our youngest exclaimed.

I whirled around and stared at him. "What did you just say?"

"I am not the perpetrator!" he repeated. "It wasn't me."

"He got it from a movie," a sister explained. They relived the scene, describing the original application.

"Yes, but how did he know it would work in this situation?"

"I don't know," they shrugged. After a pause, one of them asked, "What does perpetrator mean?" The youngest burst out laughing. I shook my head.