Twice a year, our local council does something wonderful with our rates: it picks up all our broken, faded, tarnished, outmoded, and ‘last season’ possessions so we can go out into the world and buy even more things we don’t need.
But there’s a catch: we have to find, clear, sort and lay out our cast-offs neatly on the verge by Monday morning.
And that’s exactly what we did on the weekend. Though tiresome and back-breaking, Council Clean-up Day preparations provided us with an excellent all-day language work out.
Where:
The Banter home and garden.
Cost:
Free.
What the kids and adults chatted about:
Needs vs. wants. Happiness from things versus experiences. Stoicism in the face of more than 5 minutes work. Putting good things aside for charity (including the Salvation Army and it’s amazing motto: “Blood and Fire”), hoarding, minimalism, incense sticks, 80s scarves and costume jewelry, rust, different metals and oxidisation, organisation, laser discs, cluttering.
Fan blades: fast, faster, fastest! Trashed Tonka Trucks and Headless Hungry Hippos (and awesome alliteration). The Drum Media and 90s band reviews. Mosquito-breeding grounds in pools of water. Weeds vs. plants – who decides? The dangers of heroic cricket catches on a lawn infested by bindies. Slow moving utes. The pros and cons of installing a pool, including the vexed question of who would clean it through winter. Debutante balls and ancient Eisteddfod trophies.
Neighbourhood sharing. Why we need bags to store bags in. How to use a dual tape deck. Mosquito coils and citronella. How many times can we buy the same thing at Bunnings. Items disappearing from the verge. How much can a toy wagon bear when used as a furniture removal vehicle. What are collectors and why do some of them cut cables off broken lamps. Paper money. Tapestries.
Concepts:
before and after; first, next, and last; more and less; many and few; in; under; on; because; not.
Verbs:
abut, jam, divide, stash, discard, stack, arrange, teeter, label, splay, scrawl, sneeze, taint, bind, flounder, hem and haw.
Idioms:
“Cat amongst the pigeons”, “Needle in a Haystack”, “Strike While the Iron is Hot”.
Related articles:
- Defrazzling update: practising what we preach
- Defrazzle and reconnect: tips for families to talk to each other to stimulate language development
- Defrazzle: Stuck in a rut? Do something random!
- Defrazzle: Convene on the Green
- Speech pathology homework doesn’t have to be boring
- Video blog: Light up Language with Idioms
Hi there, I’m David Kinnane.
Principal Speech Pathologist, Banter Speech & Language
Our talented team of certified practising speech pathologists provide unhurried, personalised and evidence-based speech pathology care to children and adults in the Inner West of Sydney and beyond, both in our clinic and via telehealth.
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