Vermeckmezahl or Why I really need to lighten up

Vermeckmezahl. No, that’s not some strange German word. In fact, that is not really a word at all. At least not if you ask me.

Big brother would strongly disagree here. “Mooooom, that’s the secret agent in Cars 2!” he keeps insisting. Not that he has seen the movie, mind you. But his friends apparently have. And they talk about it.

Vermeckmezahl.

I sort of doubted that this would truly be the name of that character. And it annoyed me. Badly. So I kept telling big brother to stop repeating something he didn’t understand quite right, because frankly, it was ridiculous.

We kept argueing about this for days.

I got really annoyed.

And he had no idea what the fuss was about, after all, he was just trying to play with his friends and be part of the group.

I finally looked it up. Turns out, we’re talking about Finn McMissile here. Vermeckmezahl. 

Pretty funny, if you think about it.

So why am I getting so mad and annoyed just because my 5-year-old is getting words wrong? Maybe because he insists that he’s right while I insist that it can’t be right. Maybe because I have some serious issues about control and perfectionism here. Maybe I was distracted by all those To Dos in my head and the change in our routines with me working three days a week now.

Or maybe I just really need to lighten up.

Funny thing is, now that I’ve looked it up I have to smile everytime I think about it. It’s one of those things they get wrong that is so funny you laugh about it years later (especially if you remembered to write it down and include it in the annual photo book). Like when he was really little and kept saying “Epeten” because he couldn’t pronounce “Erdbeeren”, German for strawberries. And he loved strawberries.

So instead of argueing about this for days and constantly being annoyed and grumpy just because my little kid didn’t say something quite right, I could have taken the time to listen and look it up in the first place. Or simply let it be. I mean, he constantly hears words he doesn’t understand and repeats them. That’s how kids learn, after all.

Apparently I have a lot to learn, too.

What’s the funniest thing your kids got wrong?

Do you write these things down? I often think “oh I’ll have to remember to write that down”. And then when I do, like an hour later, I can’t figure out what exactly they said, especially when it’s one of those hilarious dialogues between the two of them. I guess I should keep notepads and pens in every single room in my house. Or do something about my brain capacity. Nah, I’ll better get some notepads. Better write that on my shopping list right now.

Any advice on how to remember to lighten up? Please share in the comments.

Maybe I’ll just put sticky notes with “Vermeckmezahl” everywhere.

Swenja