I heard a funny joke the other day that came to mind when I read this.

Mom is watching little Johnny do his sums at the kitchen table. She overhears him say, " two plus two, that son of a bitch is four. Three plus three, that son of a bitch is six"

So the next day, when she picks Johnny up from school, she asks the teacher, " have you been teaching my child to say " that son of a bitch is four, etc?" and the teacher says, "no, we learn; 2 plus 2, the SUM of WHICH is four"

hey Hunny DU, are you a nanny? i live in Berkeley too, and even here, it's not every kid knows the Bateau Ivre by any name...

I just love foodie kids. my favorite was a year or two ago; i was sub-teaching a special ed preschool program in El Cerrito, and one of the children, age 4...speech problems/ high-functioning autism specrtum/ not sure, seemed like a sunny little guy...was about go out to lnch with his mother and baby brother. mom asked the kid what he wanted for lunch...the family is vegetarian ...and he said 'curry!" she then asked him what kind of curry, Thai or Indian, and he thought about it for a minute or so and announced, "Thai curry, my favorite."

and to think there are kids...my daughter went to first grade with some, again even here in Berkeley...who won;t eat but white bread, cream cheese, sweets, and McDonald's junque...I;e had food servers on airplanes and in delis get mad at me when i tried to order something i know m daughter iked hat was mostly vegetables or had an interesting, complex flavor and the flight attendant or counter person would tell me, "that;s no kid food!" and then get angry when I insisted that i know what m child eats, I've been feeding her every day...

anyway...there ya go.