I recover; Henry planders.

Good afternoon, concerned Finslippy readers! I am sorry that I frightened all of you, especially the Effexor users among you, with my tales of woe. By the next day I felt better than I have in months. But did I write about that? No, I just did a smug little dance and I headed out the door. How could I stay in when I felt so good? What if it didn’t last?

In other news, Henry is honing his comic technique. The ultimate in funny, right now, is to approach me and announce, “I thought you were a [made-up word here].” For instance:

“I thought you were a shnerb.” Raucous laughter ensues. He repeats the word a few times. And laughs some more.

“What’s a shnerb?” I ask. More laughter. He can’t get enough of it!

“A shnerb is a sort of funny bug. A funny bug that eats people.”

Repeat this nine or ten times in an afternoon, and it just gets funnier! No matter what the word is, it always means “funny bug that eats people.” Sometimes it’s a funny bug that eats fire people. I’m not sure where he got this idea. For once, I can’t blame it on Star Wars.

I told him I didn’t think a people-eating bug would be funny, exactly. Not because I’m concerned that he might seek out and befriend an enormous killer insect; just because I was bored and wanted to see where this would go. But nothing’s less funny than analyzing your own joke, as we all know, so he got sort of pissy with me and spat, “I don’t want to talk about that.” Which I think was sort of unfair, frankly, because didn’t he just accuse me of being one of these deadly bugs? Shouldn’t I have the right to find out more about them?

And now, my favorite neologism ever:

Henry is walking on the curb, as it is where the snow is located. He looks up and exclaims, “The snow is all plandering under my boots!”

“What is plandering?” I ask him.

“Plandering means when it planders. When the snow is all plandery.”

That’s my boy.

Comments

[Petey]

We have a Disney Christmas CD and at the end of one of the songs, Goofy says "fruitcake" and there are no words to describe the hysterical laughter that comes out of my 3 year old every time. And nothing is funnier than saying "fruitcake" 20 more times after that. Really. Nothing.

[Angela]

Can a person die from cuteness?? Can you DIE?? Because I think I just died... Plandery, I'm so going to start using that, and I will give Henry full credit when Webster's comes a-knocking.

[Mathew]

plander is right up there with mulfy in my book - i've used both !

[Nothing But Bonfires]

I used to say I had "bloggy" legs when I was little. I think I meant....shapeless or something. But years have passed and now blog is actually a word. And since I have a blog, I guess I actually do have bloggy legs. Twenty years from now, we'll all be saying plandery.

[the diaper dame]

Oh Finslippy, how could you say that a people-eating bug wouldn't be funny, even out of boredom? Haven't you ever seen Kingdom of the Spiders? (William Shatner? C'mon...) Or Starship Troopers? (favourite line: "It must be some kind of... SMART bug!") Or Eight-legged Freaks?

On second thought, maybe you have a point.

And yes, I also think plandering is a very good word. Snow over here in Vancouver seldom planders, however. It usually splooches.

[meghann]

I could definitely see plandery catching on. I used the word slickery when I was 5, and my parents thought it was so funny. About 10 years later, those N'ice throat drops came out and used that word! I want my royalties punks!

[rebecca]

Ah, the fun of words at that age. My friends' little boy had an unfortunate accident in which some free weights fell and hit his leg. He was telling me this story breathlessly the next day and finished it with "and then the weights... they just jetinated all over me!!" Jetinate has been one of my favorite words ever since.

[Michelle]

Henry would be an excellent Balderdash player!

[lis]

Go Henry! He's better than the dictionary.

[Shelli]

Henry is a word monger like his Mommy! Awesome.

And, Rebecca, JETINATED?! That is hilarious.

[Eulallia]

I think our kids should hang out. They have the same kind of brain.

[Eulallia]

Henry would probably also appreciate this.

[statia]

I'm definitely waiting until after the holidays to come down of off Effexor.

[roo]

Huh. I thought you were a shnerb too. Glad to hear you've recovered.

[Susie]

It makes me want to rub him like a Jedi Knight. My son makes up words too, and then refuses to say anything BUT those words.

[tree]

I swear my kids have their own language; I know I don't understand what they're saying. They think it's hilarious, though. Henry would fit right in!

[clickmom]

You know that making up your words is totally sign of extraordinary intellingence. (because mine made up words too)

[clickmom]

Not that thier mother can put together a sentence or spell or anything like that.

[clickmom]

See what I mean? time for bed...

[Éireann]

AH! One of my favorite Calvin and Hobbes strips of all time is the one where Calvin discovers that words have meaning based on what we DECIDE they mean, and that generations can be seperated by a common language, and that from now on he is going to change the meaning of all words so that his parents can't understand him. He walks away telling his dad "Isn't that totally spam? It's lubricated. Well, I'm phasing!"

Henry is Calvin, I think.

[Contrary]

My 3 year old's newest thing is to announce the presence of a 'sharptoof' (T-Rex) while we're driving down the road. It is then my job to be very, very afraid.(Oh, no! A sharptooth! Where!?) It is then his job to laugh hysterically and then assure that there isn't really a sharptoof. He then says 'I got you,Mommy!'. I then agree that he did, indeed, get me. He then snickers for several more minutes till it's time to do it again.

[Julie]

The circular logic and pseudo-Esperanto employed by kids totally cracks me up now that I have a couple of my own. Back in my younger, much more SERIOUS days, I was frustrated by it. Geez, I really should lighten up and take some Zoloft.

I'm glad you're feeling better. You're giving me hope.

[ChristyD]

I love Henry's words!

[Andie D.]

Kinda nice to see it's not just my kid. My 3 year old son makes up his own words for seemingly no reason other than because he CAN.

My current favorite it "mip". It seems to have the same abilities as the word "fuck"; it can be used as a noun, adjective, or verb. He shouts it, whispers it, uses it as a one word explanation. I've stopped overanalyzing his strange ways. Sometimes you just have to say "What the mip."

[joaaanna]

We all need a Henry.

I know I do!