How many syllables are in the word milk? My guess is that 96.2% of you reading this post will answer 1. My answer? It depends on how you say the word.

The other day, my two year old Riley said, "Daddy, I want some mee-ilk." I did a double take. "What did you want baby" I inquired. Again she said, "mee-ilk". Then it hit me, my little girl speaks southern.

As a proud native New Englander who loves and lives in the South, I knew this day would come. I chose to live here in the South, married a wonderful, smart, beautiful woman from the South. Now I'm raising my daughters here. I assumed that they would absorb the Southern culture. You know Nascar, Lynyrd Skynyrd (a home grown product), and grits I figured would be an integral part of their America.

But when my five year old, Kinsey, began speaking in full sentences, her dialect was not native to the South. To this day, she speaks just like me.

Now our baby has begun talking like Goober on an Andy Griffith re-run. Since I've tuned into her manner of speaking, I've noticed that a word like there is pronounced "They-are". Pen is "pay-un". It's quite astounding.

Please don't misunderstand me, there is nothing inherently wrong or right about being from up North (other than the fact we held the Union together). For me, it's just strange to hear my child speak unlike me. She is her mother's daughter.

My wife Alicia told me that the other day Riley was drawing a picture. She told Alicia she was "Drawling". I thought, "you got that right girl".

In any event, with her newly acquired accent, all I can hope is that she will absorb the rest of her mothers characteristics. What a wonderful person she will be if that materializes.