Girl…

Our girls have a stupid new game that is driving us crazy.

It all began back in late July, early August. We went to the mall one Sunday to try on new shoes for the school year. With all the local schools set to begin, the mall was packed. I spent most of the time making sure our girls stayed together, didn’t get in anyone’s way, and were ready to try shoes on when the harried salespeople brought their stack of options out.

A few days later, L. began saying an odd phrase repeatedly.

“Guuuuuuuuurl. You got a bad attitude!”

Uh, what?

Soon, L. was adding a little of her own flavor to it.

“Guuuuuuuuurl, you gotta a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, attitude!” beatboxing the bad, bad, bad, bad section while throwing in some break dance moves.

At first we wondered where the hell this came from. When I asked, L. looked at me like I was crazy.

“I heard it at the mall while we were looking for shoes!”

OK then.

Apparently she heard a mom, I’m guessing she was an African-American woman, telling her child to get her act in gear and try her shoes on without any complaints. And it obviously struck a chord with L., because that phrase was on high rotation immediately.

So this went on for awhile and got to be a little annoying. But then M. and C. joined in and took it to the next level of annoyance.

Now the three of them play a game called “Girl,” that involves running around and saying “Guuuuuuurl!” over-and-over. Sometimes there is other dialogue sprinkled in, but apparently the key is to respond to every question or comment with “Guuuuuurl!”

Funny for a minute, maddening after. Especially on the way to school.

“Guuuurl, look at that bridge.”
“Guuuurl, do you have library today?”
“You know it, guuuurl.”
“Guuuurl?”
“Guuuurl!”
“Guuuurl?!?!”

And then C. had to add her contribution.

First off, you have to understand that when C. has pigtails, she gets all kinds of extra crazy. I’m not sure what it is, but her eyes get extra wide, she starts whipping the pigtails around, and giggles uncontrollably. And she’s been wearing pigtails more often than she has in years recently on soccer days.

Also, in the course of the game Girl, C. somehow got renamed Girl. I don’t know if she was the big winner or what, but now M. and L. often refer to her as “Guuuuurl” rather than C..

So, naturally, C. decided to name her pigtails Girl Junior and Girl Junior Junior. Thus, she flies around the house with her pigtails, squealing and shouting, talking about Girl Junior and Girl Junior Junior while M. and L. shout “Guuuuuuurl!” at her.

Serenity Now.