Eeeeeeh?

Years ago my cousin - who must have been about four - came to Kingston with her parents from Westmoreland to stay at my family's home for the first time. (For those who are not too familiar with Jamaica, Kingston is the capital and therefore the big city so to speak, while Westmoreland which is considered to be rural Jamaica, is quieter and more laid back.) Oh she was excited about any and everything during her stay and as the days progressed, she developed a fondness and camaraderie with my mother. So that Saturday morning when my mother was leaving to go about her usual Saturday errands - or rounds as she called them, she was stopped by my cousin.

Perturbed that her buddy was going out without her, the following conversation ensued –

Cousin: Aunt ------, Ah whey yu ah go eh, eh? Ah whey yu ah go?

(Indignant!)
Cousin’s Mother: -----, You know you can speak better than that, say it properly!!

The little girl thought about what her mother had said and then began to rework her speech in her mind. As I stood there amused, I could literally see her little brain computing and fixing because she was determined that she would get it right the second time! After a pause of about two or three minutes well, my cousin redelivered her question to my mother and her anxiously awaiting mother slowly and more guardedly at first, but as she became more convinced of her correctness more quickly and with confidence because by golly she was correct!

Cousin: Aunt-----, Aaaah wheeeey yuuuuu aaaaahhhhh gooooo eeeeeehhh?

Isn’t the innocence of childhood too precious?