Little Miss Communication

My Olivia has always been a very social little girl. She talked about a week after birth... and hasn't stopped yet... It's no wonder we've had so many fun "Miss Communications".

Let's face it, we all make mistakes right?... especially when trying to communicate. Have you ever tried to explain something to someone but they just don't get it? The words are just not coming out quite right... 

Semantics (the study of meaning) and Linguistics (the scientific study of language structure)  were two of my favorite subjects in college. Learning how to say what you mean instead of saying what you think is what you mean and what others would portray as something completely different, was...well... fun! Think about how we use the words there, their, read, red, dyed, died; Each has a totally different meaning, yet they are spoken the same way. Even when words are not the same, sometimes we hear what we want to hear - or we "think" we hear something entirely different. (See how easy this is?) Stay with me...

So when a 6 year old on her way to school is handed an envelope and is asked to bring it right to the secretary - and her reaction is that of shock and dismay... she stands there - wide eyed and blinking in disbelief of what was just requested of her... What do you think? hmmm Perhaps the secretary is a 7 foot tall ogre with greasy purple scales, hairy knuckles and long, yellowed talons for finger nails? Maybe she snatches up children and chains them to her desk where they are forced to endure the fire breathing tyrant of the principal for the rest for the school day? For crying out loud!! - Now where would she get such an imagination?
You wait a moment and ask... "um, what's wrong?" and she replies with those eyeballs still the size of saucers: "but that's where the people are buried".  Wait... WHAT??

I can not believe what I am told, but yes - this is a True Story! And I don't ever want to forget it. My poor little Miss Communication thought she had to go to the cemetery. Boy was she relived to learn that the secretary was the lovely lady she spoke to every morning when she entered the school building.


My girl has come out with some doozies and this is one that I don't want to let slip away. It's the little things like this that keep life interesting.