Shoes, xie zi (sounds like: shed-zuh)
We take off our shoes when we enter the house, but I even take off my “inside flipflops” (which sometimes see a trip to the patio or to throw out the trash) when I enter Emmy’s bedroom. However, the girl is mobile these days, and will take off crawling at a moment’s notice — leaving a person prostrate on the floor and suddenly alone, idiotically stuffing giant plastic coins into a singing pig — and so the first thing she discovers upon exiting are my flipflops. Which means, since everything she touches is destined for a taste test, I’ve mostly learned to say shoes by pleading, as I scramble to get up, “No, no don’t touch! Mama de shed-zuh!”
(To hear the correct pronunciation, you could watch this. I have no idea whose daughter this is, but I love her.)
