Singular Spaghetti

 

So at the Olympics Opening Ceremony, they mentioned paparazzi which is the plural form of Paparazzo who was a persistent news photographer in an Italian movie in the mid-1900's. And the commentators mentioned that spaghetti is plural but you never eat just one spaghetto, and the same for other pastas that end in "i" - it's the plural form of that noodle. The more you know...

Haha, I just had a thought that a couple could try to Lady & The Tramp this spaghetto but just keep inhaling noodle only to realize it's a full serving size noodle. 

Text:
A: I heard you made pasta this weekend - did you make spaghetti?
B: No, it's one long noodle - it's spaghetto. *holding plate with one massively long thin noodle on it*

Abacus Ticketer

 

I would like someone to try this and see how it turns out. Let me know. Could be fun. Most likely will be awkward. 

Explanation: An abacus is an ancient mathematical counting device using beads on a grid. Many workplaces have a ticketing system where problems are described on tickets and workers can take a ticket to solve that problem. 

Text:
B: Ticket 103 needs to be completed by Friday - can I count on you to do it?
N: Just call me abacus.
B: I'm... not gonna do that, but I will assign the ticket to you.

Cinderella vs Encanto

 

I didn't realize that the name has been used in two different movies until my kids pointed it out. Now I'm trying to think of other names that have been reused but I'm coming up blank. There are so many movies, surely they aren't all unique. But they have a lot of specific names like Cinderella and Snow White and such. Well, Prince Charming is used a few times I believe. But is it really, or do I just not remember the guy's name because the princess is the main character of the story? 

Explanation: Bruno is the name of the hound dog in Cinderella (1950). Bruno is also one of the uncles in Encanto (2021). 

Text:
Title: In our Cinderella Era
Music: We don't talk about Bruno - No no No ...
R: The DOG?!
O: *shocked*
L: Disney reused a name? I guess it has been 70 years.

Trinity Question

 

So we listen to the catechisms sung on "Ask Me Whoooo" which is an excellent set of albums available on Spotify, YoutTubeMusic, and other places surely, including in disc form. My youngest only knows the first few, and is hindering himself in learning more. 

Text:
Music: In how many persons does this one God exist? In three Persons.
O: I don't know this one (spoken over the answer portion)
L: Buddy.

Tastes of Coffee

 

We don't drink coffee in my house - we have several types of instant coffee for visitors but we don't own a coffee maker. How my child thinks she knows what coffee tastes like is a mystery to me. She has smelled it before, when out and about, but not often. I usually make herbal or Earl Grey for her, but one morning I had made chai for myself and brewed a second cup for her when she asked, and I think the spices surprised her. We are drinking out of our coordinated strawberry mugs that my sister-in-law gave to us. It's fun to have matching or coordinated mugs. Often, it's actually better to not totally match because that makes it easy to swap mugs and if you make different teas, that's an unpleasant surprise. 

Text:
R: What kind of tea is this?
L: Chai.
R: It tastes like coffee.
L: ... How do you know how coffee tastes?!?
R: *unhinged laugh*

Girl Grey Tea

 

I have been introducing my preschooler to tea, usually a weakened form of whatever I'm drinking. Earl Grey is my favorite basic tea but Lady Earl Grey is preferred when I can find it. I also have been buying custom blends from Plum Deluxe and they have many Earl Grey varieties which I have enjoyed (especially Gratitude Blend or Picard Black). 

Text:
R: What kind of tea is this?
L: Earl Grey.
R: That's almost a girl tea because "earl" sounds like "girl."
L: Let me tell you about Lady Earl Grey. 

Learning to Count

 

Happy belated Birthday to my dad-in-law! Also Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law and nephew. Quite the festive weekend.
So my toddler doesn't quite have his numbers straight. Is it considered stealing candy from babies when you give them a choice and they choose the lesser? I could choose to make this an educational lesson, or I could choose to eat the extra chocolate chip. It's a hard choice. 

Text:
L: Do you want 2 chocolate chips or 3?
O: TWO!
L: Ok.

Tumble Those Leaves

 

There is an excellent show on Amazon Prime called Tumble Leaf. It's whimsical and gets kids to think things through, often in an amusing way. And I like the claymation style that they use - it's very non-stimulating. 

Explanation: In the show "Tumble Leaf," the main character (Fig, the blue fox) often says (when puzzling over an issue then finding a solution), "Turkey shout! I figured it out!" 

Second Explanation: I think I'm holding a cup of juice in this comic, but honestly I don't know why I drew it like that. And that reminds me that I was going to drink some 100% grape juice this evening because everyone is getting sick in this coldness.

Text:
Title: Parenthood
M: Can you Figure it out?
L: Turkey shout! I can't.

Counting Order

 

Happy Birthday to my brother! He has his degree in accounting, so maybe he can help my preschooler get her numbers straight. Ha, the other day my kids were playing dress-up and they were a prince and princess and for whatever reason, Robin was getting Ori to count to ten and he had his numbers all over the place so she very sweetly said "my prince, you are not very good at counting; you need to go to school" and he agreed. 

Text:
R: eleven, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, fifteen, nineteen, twenty!
L: That's not in the right order.
R: But it's my order?

Lane Departure

 

Sometimes it's very hard to keep the snide comments inside. I know that some safety features are overreaching and it's hard to adapt to all the lights and warnings that new cars have, but some just make sense. Stay in your lane (bro) or change over with your blinker on. 

Text:
A: I HATE how my car complains about "lane departure" when I switch lanes, like I KNOW! That's the point here!!!
B: ... Have you tried using your blinker?

Pants vs Capris

 

A fellow parent at the school my preschooler attends made this comment and I just had to comic it. I am quoting Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor from Netflix's "A Series of Unfortunate Events." That character likes to declare things "OUT" and "IN" in a fashion sense, for example she declares elevators "OUT" and stairs "IN" so everyone has to take the stairs rather than use the fully functioning elevator. She has exceedingly vibrant outfits and is quite the character. Also, she's evil. There's that, too. 

Explanation: If your pants are too short, you can try calling them capris and hope for the best. 

Text:
A: My kids grew SO MUCH over Christmas break that their school uniform pants are too short!
L: School pants are OUT! School capris are IN!

Just Trying

 

I mean, he's a very literal child. I've been singing "it's time to go to sleep" (to the tune "Arise, My Soul, Arise") as a lullaby to him and he'll open one eye and say "I AM going to sleep" like yep, buddy, that's what we're doing here but clearly you're not asleep yet however per the lyrics (just that one line, over and over) it simply is time to go to sleep, and he is trying to go to sleep, so he needs to announce it. 

Explanation: None needed if you've dealt with a toddler potty training. 

Text:
L: Do you need to poop?
O: No, just trying. *GRUNT*
L: LET'S do that on the toilet. 

Sushi Yoshi

 

My preschooler likes sushi (California roll or other cooked ones) but my toddler hates rice so... we usually bring a pbj for him. And she pronounces sushi as "shushi."

Explanation: Sushi sounds similar to Yoshi, and Yoshi races with Mario, and Mario is red like Spider-Man? Maybe. Seems like it could be my toddler's logic. 

Text:
L: Your dad is picking up dinner on his way home. Did you hear what we're having?
R: Shushi shushi shushi!
O: Yoshi Yoshi Mario Mario Spider-Man!

Elephant vs Ape

 

That is my daughter using logic taught to her by VeggieTales Silly Songs with Larry - specifically the Monkey with Larry song. It's a funny song with a deeper meaning about false dichotomies. Let's dive in!

It postulates: 
monkeys have tails (correct)
apes do not have tails (correct) THEREFORE
things with tails are monkeys (mostly false other than one case [monkeys])
things without tails are apes (again mostly false other than one case [apes])
things without tails are not monkeys (true other than Curious George)
things with tails are not apes (true)

Logic is fascinating and you can get to a right answer with wrong logic.

Text:
R: African elephants are not apes because they have tails.
L: I mean... yes...

Protein vs Antitein

 

Peanut and steak vs broccoli and carrot, who will win??? Well, it's a protest so there's no winners? Maybe they'll have a nice discussion and come to realize that diets should be balanced. 

Yes, this is a continuation of the comic from Sunday. Also yes, I drew these like VeggieTales without arms because arms are hard. But also no faces because I don't like anthropomorphizing food. 

Explanation: Some foods (like peanuts and steak) have protein in them. Others (like vegetables) don't have protein. The word "protein" starts with "pro", so therefore I invented an "anti" to go against it.

DISCLAIMER: This comic was written before the new food pyramid and all that happened. I'm not weighing in on that - I'm just making a pro- vs anti-tein joke. 

Text:
Peanut and Steak holding a PRO TEIN! sign.
Broccoli and Carrot holding an ANTI TEIN! sign.