As a linguist and a language teacher, I’ve always loved playing with letters and sounds, but lately it’s my son who’s been getting into rhyme. He’ll start conversations with, “Train, plane, crane… also cane! Cane sounds a bit like crane!” The other day, he enlisted my help to come up with words that rhyme with ‘caught’.…
I’ve been entertaining fantasies, but it’s not what you think. There have been flashbacks to Thailand; riding a moto through the city at night. There’s the allure of the shopping mall and the dream of shopping without having to stop at every mechanical car to let the toddler play. There’s jealousy at a single friend’s freedom…
What would your first thought be if you were asked to baby-sit your friend’s kids? Would you reply, “Yes, but only if they’re asleep”? Would you pause if it involved the changing of dirty nappies? Would you scan your bookshelves to see what DVDs you could take to keep them entertained? Would you check the…