Dates

I am cleaning out the fridge. This involves chucking away anything that has expired more than six months previously (anything more recent I may be willing to take a chance on) and scraping something green and congealing out of the salad crisper. (Pond weed? When did I buy pond weed?) I remove an unlabelled carton of olives and wave it at Phoebe.

"Do you know when this dates from?" I ask.

She stares at me. "I don't know, Daddy, because I can't read and I don't know dates."

Good point, really. I'm not even sure if I asked the right question. Is it correct to talk about when food dates from? It makes it sound more like a rare archaeological find than something delicious and nourishing (not a complete impossibility given the state of our fridge, of course.) Perhaps I should stop making such an effort to introduce the kids to unusual phrases and vocabulary and stick to what I know for sure is correct (e.g. "Look, Jane, look! Pat likes the ball! Look, Peter, look!" etc. etc.)