Last night while he sat in the bathtub, my raspy-voiced seven year-old asked in his Ameri-Aussie accent, "Mum, have you ev-ah her-d the soong 'The Star-Strangled Banner'?" Omigod, I nearly peed in my pants-- the Star Strangled Banner???
I'm now officially quite sure, Angelina and Brad's kids would definitely put mine to shame in the "knowing-about-the-country-you-came-from" category. Wow.
And what do you do in these situations? I said, "Of course I know the song-- it's called the 'Star Spangled Banner'; though I thought your for it name was awesome too." And then, I did what any other parent as wacky as me would do... I busted out in an unusually loud and dramatic rendition of our national anthem. And it wasn't pretty--- though it was quite fun. So fun in fact, that I must have sang it eight or nine times at the top of my voice in a bathroom with tiled walls, which created echo-ing, ear-piercing sound that dying cats would envy.
Anyway, we ended up googling the lyrics (which there were a few I was unsure of) and singing along to them until bedtime. Needless to say, my husband wanted to kill me-- and I'm guessing our neighbors would have helped.
On a completely different topic, living here in Australia has given me a new perspective on so-called bragging-rights. I never was shy about telling people how awesome my kids were-- until I finally realized that it was not really appreciated here.
Instead of the mentality I grew up with, which was more along the lines of-- everyone is good at something and if you've got it flaunt it. The mantra here in Sydney is a little more like, if you tell anyone that you're really good at something, they'll think you're a real jackass braggart, and eagerly anticipate seeing you fall from glory.
But you can take Florida Girl out of America, but you can't take America out of Florida Girl, so that being said... I feel like showing off my little guys a little and I don't care if they all think I'm nuts.
One of my little brainiacs is beginning a program through Stanford University for young mathematicians, and he is over the moon about it. He's also an amazing tennis player if I do say so myself. Here's proof:
And my little guy is a creative sponge and plans on "being famous" when he grows up. I figured I'd give him a head start here... can't hurt, right?
It's as if the talent in our house is seemingly endless...
So don't be hatin' or cuttin' down these poppies, mate.