How Do You Do Mrs. Wiley?

I am so very happy with the math curriculum that I found for One this year. She is reviewing perimeter measurements this week, after working extensively on figuring areas earlier in the year. That's the background. Now later, during our daily lunch-time read-aloud, we were enjoying a book called Polar the Titanic Bear because we are touching on the 1912 sinking of the Titanic in our study of 20th century history. Polar is a story told from the point of view of a toy bear belonging to the only child of wealthy parents who provide luxuriously for him -- including world travels. When I came to the page that explained that the boy and his family visited Panama during the construction of the canal there, One piped up with, "that was so they could sail their ships through the area instead of around the perimeter." It took me a couple of seconds to catch up with her.

This is what my husband and I affectionately call a "Mrs. Wiley Moment." The phrase comes from a classic Andy Griffith episode in which hillbilly run-amuck, Ernest T. Bass is taken under wing by Barney and Andy, who are sure they can transform him into a courteous, well-mannered, proper gentleman with the right instruction and time investment. While they do manage to clean him up and dress him well, they can't make him smart or socially apt. In the end, they conspire to test him in the company of the town's great socialite, Mrs. Wiley. But to do that, they first must teach and rehearse with him a few key phrases, including:

"How do you do Mrs. Wiley?"

"No coffee, tea or milk, thank you."

Now, when Ernest T. speaks these words, it is with the unshakable back-woods accent that makes his character, so that he actually sounds like:

"Hay-ow dew yew dew Mays-ez Why-lee?"

And likewise, that's how we sound whenever One says something really remarkable in our estimation. My husband expressed it best one evening a few months ago, "she's gonna leave us in the dust!"