“What’s this?”
“Magazines.”
“This? Books. What’s this?”
“Newspapers.”
“What’s this?”
“Shampoo. And soap.”
“Soap. Wash. What’s this?”
“Mark, come on. We have to go to the post office, remember?”
“No. Mooommy! What’s this?”
“Baby food.”
“Apple! Banana! Oooh… cookies!”
Shoppers Drug Mart sells a bit of everything. The pharmacy chain stores are often open 24/7 and they almost operate as convenience stores. Sure, there is a pharmacy for prescription drugs at the back, but there are also entire aisles of over-the-counter drugs, health and beauty products, baby supplies, seasonal items and a lot of junk food—sorry, “food essentials”, as the store claims—but trust me, there are more chocolate eggs than actual eggs.
I used to shop there, ten years ago, when Shoppers and Loblaws were the only two stores within walking distance of our newly-developed neighbourhood. I was even a member of the loyalty program, Shopper Optimum, and I would redeem my points for expensive Shiseido cream. Then the loyalty program changed, you had to spend more to receive less, and prices went up too. When Food Basics and Walmart opened their doors across the parking lot, I stopped going to Shoppers.
I’m a North American customer. Loyalty? Meh. Money talks.
These days, I only stop by when I’m looking for discounted chocolate after each major holiday (Shoppers always has a ton on sale) and when I need to go to the post office since there is a Canada Post outlet inside.
“Mark, post office. Please.”
“What’s this?”
“Juice. And water.”
“Ooooh…! Mommy drinks!”
The old lady who was smiling at us, probably amused by Mark, averts her eyes.
“Yes, mommy drinks COKE ZERO,” I announce a tad too loudly and cheerfully. “Good job, Mark, you recognized the brand.”
“Mommy drinks, mommy drinks!”
Great, now the entire store thinks I’m an alcoholic. Grammar can change the meaning of a sentence.
“Okay, can you run to the next aisle, Mark?”
“What’s this?”
“That’s… I don’t know.”
“I don’t know,” he repeats gravely as if I had said something extremely controversial. What? I don’t know what’s in the box. What I do know is that it’s 5:30 p.m. and I need to buy a stamp and mail this contract today.
“Okay, almost there… see the big red box? That’s a mailbox.”
“What’s this?”
“Choco—… never mind Mark, let’s skip this aisle. Next one, run!”
Phew. Candies-and-chocolate tantrum avoided.
I know that six-year-old is the “why?” stage. I had no idea that two-and-a-half was the “what’s this” stage. And Mark never stops. I’m thinking of lending him to ESL students—your very own human flashcard! Test your vocabulary and get a tantrum if you don’t reply fast enough! Can be switched to Mandarin or French!
I buy my stamp under Mark’s watchful eyes, seal the envelope and let him put it in the box. He walks away proudly as if he had solved a major technical issue—actually, he kind of did when he realized the envelope had to be dropped straight and not jammed sideways into the slot.
“A. T. Zero…”
“…this is a ‘O’, Mark.”
“… N. Seven. Two. Four.”
… and this is Mark walking through the parking lot. He reads license plates. All of them. I parked at the very end.
Fuck my life.
No, I’m proud of him, really. Just… not now.
Mark has been reading numbers for a little while now. It started in Latin America, last winter, where we let him press the elevator’s buttons if he could read the right number. He still mixes up six and nine but he is comfortable with numbers. And now, he moved on to letters—“I read!” he says. I’m not pushing him, he is still young, but I’m supporting him. This includes reading books with him (it takes forever, he reads each letter one by one), buying flashcards with letters and yes, reading license plates in the parking lot.
“What’s this?”
“… the sidewalk?”
“No! This.”
“A drain.”
“What’s this?”
“A store.”
“This?”
“An ant.”
“This?”
“A pothole.”
“This?”
“A Tim Horton’s paper cup that probably spent the winter there.”
“This?”
“… Okay Mark, how about that: we go home and I’ll ask daddy to take you to Harvey’s. Okay? You two can go eat together.”
I need a sanity break.
“Harvey’s! I go Harvey’s! Eat fries. Mark eats. Harvey’s!”
Where the fuck is the off button?
Ha ha, a human flashcard… now that’s an idea.
🙂
“Mommy drinks, mommy drinks!” So funny!
I was once behind an lady at the checkout who had 6 cans of dogfood. Her little girl kept tugging her arm and repeating “but mommy mommy we don’t have a dog”.
At least Mark doesn’t say things like these kids:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/the-creepiest-things-a-child-has-ever-said-to-a-parent#.ut70N2LN6Y
Kids are hilarious… as long as they don’t talk about you. Mark also tends to say “Mark eat dogs”. It puzzled me for a while, and I realized he was saying that when imitating a dog biting. This is so far stretched that I can’t explain it to dog owners…! 😆
I somewhat learn numbers and letters by watching « Des chiffres et des Lettres » when I was young.
The off button at the top of the skull, but you have to hit it with the appropriate thing. A baseball bat or a wrench will do the job.
J’ai appris un jour que le titre de l’émission venait de “déchiffer des lettres”. Ma vie a été changée.
Off Button; lol.
Your wishes keep running back to Adam Sandler’s Click 🙂
… guess I have this “controlling” issue 😆
Ah ah je me marre, il est épatant ton fils pour les chiffres, la mienne en est loiiin.
Je n’ai strictement rien fait. Les gènes chinois…? M’enfin il fait encore pipi dans sa culotte hein, c’est pas un génie 😆
Im sorry but i can’t stop laughing LMAO !! “Mommy drinks” lol i would be mortified and laughing and running out of the store Lol
Yes, we finished shopping pretty fast 🙂
Une petite anecdote : Je n’en pouvais plus, d’autant qu’il connaissait souvent la réponse… alors j’ai simplement inversé la question. “Ah oui, c’est vrai, c’est quoi ça ?”, et figure-toi qu’il m’a répondu, que je lui ai répondu que c’était très intéressant (d’un air très enthousiaste bien entendu), puis je lui ai reposé 2 ou 3 autres questions “ça c’est quoi ?”, auxquelles il a répondu avec plaisir, il a soupiré de fierté et il a… arrêté de me saouler avec 5.000 questions à la seconde !!! Je crois qu’il avait besoin d’un peu d’attention, tout simplement… Et qu’il me faisait ce qu’il avait envie que je lui fasse. ça a été mon bouton OFF du moment ! bon courage !!!!!!
OUI! J’ai commencé à faire ça aussi. Des fois les réponses sont marrantes. Les questions rhétoriques, ça marche bien.
Ha! I remember those days. Your adventures with Mark are hilarious :).
I love writing about these moments, mostly because it will be fun to read these articles again in a few years (yeah, limited interest to the rest of the world, I know…)