Sunday, April 29, 2007

It's About Time


We’ve had this clock for a long time. I think my mom bought it for us when she and dad were in South Africa to visit us many years ago. That would make this clock at least 10 years old. My kids (and sometimes even my husband) have always complained about how difficult it is to tell time on though.

“Mom, what time is it?”
“Well, you tell me what time it is. The clock is right there on the wall.”
“I can’t tell with that clock. Why does it have flowers instead of numbers anyway?”
“Because it’s a pretty clock. Are you telling me you can’t figure out where the numbers would be?”
“Well, yeah, but it takes a lot of time to figure out, and then I’m not quite sure. I wouldn’t want to be late for school…” (smile)
“It’s simple. You know where the 12, 3, 6 and 9 would be right? So, then there are only 2 numbers between those to fill the spaces with. I think it’s pretty obvious!” (Now that I think about it, maybe it is a bit confusing.)
“Yeah, well, it’s a pain to have to figure out every time.”
(Mom sighs.) “Well, if I MUST read the time for you it’s 8:30 (or whatever).”
“Oh.”

Last week we had several workers in our house doing some finishing work on the walls. There was quite a bit of discussion going on and as I entered the room it suddenly got quiet. They all sort of glanced at each other, then at me, then at each other again. Finally one of them piped up, “Senhora…is that a clock?”
“Yes, it’s a clock. Why?”
“Well, what time is it?”
(!)
Apparently it’s time to get a new clock! By the way, in the picture the time is 07:42.

And speaking of time, I remember once when Amanda's friend (learning English still) was waiting patiently while Amanda tied her shoelaces to perfection. It took awhile, so I said, "Marisha, just say, 'Amanda, time's a-wasting'". Marisha turned to Amanda and said, "Amanda, you're a-wasting my time." Same idea I guess!

This week Salena, our latest short termer arrived. She’s staying in a tent which has been a bit of an adjustment for her! Otherwise, she’s busy tackling a number of jobs…the extra pair of hands is great.

TTYL. It’s “time” to go J.

2 comments:

Amanda said...

Yeah, sorry mom, still can't tell :). Very accurate example of one of those conversations, though! Probably pretty much word for word.

But don't get a new clock! It may be a dumb ("pretty") clock, but it's still ours :)

René Blessman said...

Lynn, i am totally with you, how is it that people can't know where the 3,6,9,12 is and not figure out what the numbers in between is.
Thanks for the comment on my blog. Maybe if things work out right i might just come around the farm some time this year to show Dustin, why i love it so much :)i will unfortunately have to skip on the long term visit ha-ha :)