In defence of my Defence Attorney (Katya)

In response to my complaints that Katya is not picking up our mothertongue, Kannada, and talks in English all the time, Mrs. Porcupyn tried to start off with lesson 0.1:

Mrs. P: Katya, what does 'ooru' mean?

Katya (brightly): One hundred.

Mrs. P: No Katya, 'nooru' means one hundred, What does 'ooru' mean?

At this point, I decided to step in and bat for my <a href="http://porcupyn.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/tales-of-katya-katya-appas-defence-attorney/">attorney</a>. Invoking the spirit of <a href="http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/kalidas.html">Kalidasa </a>(in the manner he beat his wife in debating), I explained: Just like 'eeruLLi' and 'neeruLLi' mean the same (onions) in Kannada, similarly, Katya must have determined that 'ooru' and 'nooru' are the same. ;-)

Katya the Foodie (not!!)

So, we come home from school (daycare, to be precise). As is her wont, Katya had her requests lined up:

"Appa, may I watch TV?"

Appa (how can I let your mind starve for the whole day without your TV, my child?): "Sure"

"Appa, may I have a brownie?"

Appa (how can I let your stomach starve in the evening, my child?): "Su ... Oh, waitaminute! Finish the 2/2 waffle from this morning that you did (could) not finish before you had to rush to school!"

Katya (five minutes later): "Appa, I am done. Now may I have the brownie?"

Appa (good job - you've finished your breakfast, my child!): "OK ... Ooooh, waitaminute!" (memories of uneaten lunches past come flooding to the father, who has to listen to a daily tantrum that child throws at mother in defence of those uneaten lunches) "Did you finish your lunch?"

Katya: "Ummmm ... No."

Appa (glad at having staved off tantrum of the day): "Eat that first then!"

She's finished her breakfast (finally); now I am now waiting for her to finish her lunch, so I can approve the snack (brownie).

Note: The above sequence of events would've been impossible without the catalyst in the background (the TV, of course).

Update: She is only halfway through lunch ... and has quit for the time being. :-(