Catch Phrases

I'm trying to figure out where it came from but I just don't know.

My children tend to go through times when they have their own catch phrase - you know, the little phrase that television, movie, and cartoon characters have that is distinctly their own. The chick doesn't do it as much anymore. She kind of got stuck on "I'm just sayin'..." and "Whatever." I guess it's a teen thing. I don't know. I don't try to figure her out much anymore. Blind acceptance. That's the best way to deal with a teen. Probably.

The dude though is still doing his comparison shopping. I suppose it comes naturally. After all, we've been calling him 'dude' since he was toddling. When he was younger, it kind of evolved into (at least for me) 'dooderbug.' I don't know what that means. Don't ask me. But as his embarrassment meter became more sensitive - especially around other boys his age - it went back to just 'dude.'

For a while, his catch phrase du jour was "sweet!" and before that a simple "oh man." Sometimes, it changes based on the most recent movie he's watched. After our Napoleon Dynamite Fest, it was "gosh, whatever I feel like" (but only when we were joking around - he knows better than to be that disrespectful). That's a quote straight from the movie by the way. I'm so proud. Usually the movie ones end pretty quickly -- a few months, tops.

But I have no clue where he got this one. His new catch phrase is "sweet mother of pearl." Huh? I must tell you that it is very odd to hear a 9-year-old exclaim: "Sweet mother of pearl! Look at that Transformer!" in Wal-mart. And it isn't fading. It's still going strong. I'm beginning to wonder if he'll hang onto it throughout his life. I'm not sure I want to be standing at the hospital looking into the nursery window and hear, "Sweet mother of pearl! Look at my newborn" when he's 30-something. I'll definitely know which one is mine though.