Peonies

PEE-uh-nees. pee-OH-nees.

We borrowed the book "Pinkalicious" from the library this week. Wouldn't you know the girl turns pink like a field of peonies? When I read the book to Lily the first few times, I pronounced it 'pee-OH-nees'. I don't know. I'm not a know-it-all when it comes to flowers.

Last night when I was getting Mason's pjs on, I overheard Lily correcting her dad while he was reading Pinkalicious. "Dad, you say pee-OH-nees. Not PEE-uh-nees." They went back and forth and back and forth, bantering about how to say it. Then they moved on and finished the book. The end. Or so one would think. But not with those two. You see, they share several genes, and one was about to show its colors.

Tonight at supper, Lily brought the book to the supper table, turning to the peonie page, and reminded her dad that, "It says right here, dad, pee-OH-nees. You don't know how to say it. It's pee-OH-nees."

"No, it's PEE-uh-nees."

"Nope. pee-OH-nees."

"Well, I'm right. I know how to say it."

"Well, I'm right. I know it more."

"Well, I asked my boss and he said PEE-uh-nees. And he knows, because he's the boss."

"Well, he's not the boss of me. I'm the boss of me and the whole world. And I say pee-OH-nees."

"I'm sorry, but you're not the boss of the whole world. In fact, you're not the boss of anything. Except maybe your own brain. You can be the boss of that."

Mom interjects, "Why don't you tell daddy what you learned at swimming lessons today?"

"No thanks. I want him to know that you're supposed to say pee-OH-nees. That's all."

"Well, I'm sorry, but it's PEE-uh-nees. I know."

Mom interjects, "Well, you could probably find out. Look it up after supper."

Interjection accepted by at least one party. The other party didn't understand what 'look it up' meant.

Daddy finds website that even has audio on how to correctly pronounce peonie in the English language.

Website: "PEE-uh-nee."

"Did you hear that? [audio]"

"No, I didn't hear it."

"[audio]....[audio, audio, audio]...I'm pretty sure it's saying PEE-uh-nee."

"Well, I'm not listening to it. It's pee-OH-nees."

"What makes you think that you know how to say 'peonies'? What's 2+2? You don't even know that. So how can you know how to say peonies?"

"2+2 means that PEE-uh-nees is in Spanish."


And I've cut the bantering in half for the sake of anyone reading this. You're welcome. Later, I assured her that I was glad Daddy found out how to say it because now I can say it the right way and other people will know which flower I'm talking about. She still isn't having it. However, after all that arguing and audio-flaunting, she's getting more confused about which way she originally said it. So, um, that's a positive I guess. Glass half full. Remind me when she's 15, okay?