Say 'ta'

I'm still very much American in the way I talk. 

Unless I take the time to think about what I'm saying, I still use phrases like 'parking lot' and 'trash can'; I tend to say 'thank you' instead of 'cheers' or 'ta'; I catch myself pronouncing tomatoes and basil the way an American would (tow-may-tow and bay-sil, instead of tow-maa-tow and baa-sil). I pronounce strawberry with the 'e' and almost never say 'hiya' or 'wee'.

My world is about to change.

We are in the process of adopting a toddler (it won't be legal for many months to come, but that's another story). This kid has spent 19 months with a Scottish foster family and just moved in with us. At that age, growing up in a Scottish home, phrases like 'trash can' might as well be 'schloog fleig' as far as the kid is concerned. 

As American as I may sound, I want to keep the kid up with Scottish terms, so I'm finding myself telling the kid to put rubbish in the bin, asking if the kid wants any 'bluebries' and when I give the kid a grape and say 'what do you say?', I don't want to hear 'thank you', I want to hear 'ta'.

This wee child is going to change my world in ways I hadn't really thought much about.