Abu el Banat

I’m not sure why, but Madeleine has recently started making fun of her father’s English accent. 

It began in February after the girls’ Granny stayed with us – my mother-in-law speaks with a lovely Northern England accent – Madeleine started saying “I beg your pahhhdon” instead of “excuse me”.  Madeleine and Granny are very close and her accent should be old news, but for some reason Madeleine has picked up on the fact that Granny and Daddy sound different than the rest of us (and each other, interestingly).   

When Madeleine was three years old, she was having a rough time at daycare so James took a year off work to stay home with her.  In this time she unknowingly picked up her father’s accent.  She still refers to a grocery cart as a trolley and will put trash in the bin instead of the garbage, and to this day will  ask for “tomahtoes”in her sandwich. I will never forget the day we were having dinner with my parents and James accidentally said “tomaytoes”; I thought my mother and I were going to pass out we were laughing so hard.  Madeleine has since lost her accent but I'm thinking of picking one up, just to keep things interesting. 

Of course the little sister mimics everything the big sister does, so poor James has two girls walking around mocking him on a daily basis.  Well, technically three.  Four, when my mother visits. 

Daddy (giggle) can I please have some strahhwberries? (giggle) How about some rahhzberries?

Peals of laughter.

Would you like a glass of watah?  Watah! 

Say it Daddy!  Say watah!

I beg your pahhhhhhdon!

My dear husband, worn down by years of sleep deprivation, usually gives in, much to the girls’ delight.  To be fair, Stella has no clue why it’s funny, but given her penchant at an early age for hyperbole, I predict many more years of embellished mockery. 

There is an Arab expression “Abu el Banat” that roughly translates to “Father of Daughters”, which is intended to garner sympathy for a man whose fate in life is to raise a family of girls.  Occasionally James will mutter this phrase under his breath.  I think it helps him cope with his destiny. 

Abu el Banat indeed.