Slackers

We went to see The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre yesterday. It was a generous gift to the family (and the tickets were pricy); nevertheless, it was priceless to see Eddie's face as the first creatures took to the stage in the Circle of Life number. 

The giraffes and the elephant turned his little mouth into a long 0, and though he played it cool afterwards, he was totally engaged in the whole thing. He was especially impressed with the actor playing young Simba, whom he judged to be about his own age. 

On the train on the way home, this got him reflecting about other child stars. Our conversation went something like this:

Eddie: So Michael Jackson was only ten years old when 'Easy as 1-2-3' came out?

Me: That's right: ten years old. Perhaps you're slacking, and should crack on a bit?

Eddie: Yeah well, I don't have a Jackson 5, do I? I think it's YOU that's slacking, Mum. 

Ouch. And that told me!

Yeeted it!

We're not really a gambling family (though we have a dog called Kempton, and our first date was at Kempton Races, but still, never mind).

We have, however, established a kind of tradition of doing a sweepstake and £1 each way bets as a family on the Grand National.

So Eddie dutifully wrote out all 40 names and we put them in a hat to draw out. But his bet at the bookmakers was Noble Yeats. There was a very good reason for this. 'Yeet' is one of his favourite words, and he's never heard of the Irish poet, after whom I'm guessing the horse was named. 

In case you're not familiar with the term 'yeet', a few found defintions: 

Merriam-Webster say: Yeet is a slang word that functions broadly with the meaning “to throw,” but is especially used to emphasize forcefulness and a lack of concern for the thing being thrown. (You don’t yeet something if you’re worried that it might break.) Yeet is also used as an interjection, most often to express excitement or enthusiasm.

Dictionary.tn explain that:Yeet refers to throwing something away from yourself at high velocity. If someone chucks their water bottle across the room into their bag, they've “yeeted” it. This action is sometimes accompanied by said person yelling “YEET!” as they throw it.

Gilby was on the runner-up, Any Second Now. The noise that was generated in our living room as the two horses battled it out in the home strait might have been heard at Aintree, 250 miles away. 

At 3pm on Saturday afternoon Eddie had no idea what was meant by 'book-makers' odds'. Having picked a winner at 50-1, he's got a pretty good idea now. I just hope that we haven't inadvertently ignited a lifetime a gambling addiction...

Currently reading: Front Desk by Kelly Yang.