What!? What??? Does this imply good news? A great surprise? A sick sense of self-loathing..?? Close that thought - wipe your mind clear of any preconceived notions - and consider this. I miss the period at the end of my sentences.
What?! This woman's ticking nuts - what the pink twill does she mean?
I waited a long time for my toddler to talk. At least it felt like a long time because she came out of the womb frustrated that she didn't have full expressive language! Until she could begin to express herself verbally she was a wailing, screaming dervish and once she began to articulate words, her dervish dropped off significantly and a collective breath of relief passed through our household instead.
Throughout this extended phase, a number of veteran parents would say - "first you are praying for them to talk, then you are praying for them to be quiet". Yes, indeed.
Now, my daughter is a toddler - in fact, moving into her "preschool" years and her chatter is welcome but incessant. There are whole days in which I've not heard the end of a single sentence that I've started - and I miss my period. I would find that punctuation-of-pause a relief - "yeah, a finished thought!" My daughter's mind, and now her mouth, runs from thought to thought enthusiastically and it's not so much about the individual thought itself but more about the opportunity to explore so many thoughts in toddler "real time". "Toddler real time" is - for every one adult second, there are 4.2 toddler seconds and for each toddler second there is an independent and unique thought. Within our one second or one effort to speak or respond, our toddler is already onto another thought - or 4.2 several. We are left with our mouth hanging open or our tongue bit in frustration and a slightly louder voice with our next barely-there response. Sigh...
It's fun to sit back and simply watch our little one's brain at work...wow!! Slow down!! Child, you're going to self-destruct with the infinite possibilities playing tennis in your head! In the meantime parents, know that you will (eventually) and with great patience and repeat interuptions, teach your child social graces - like allowing a person to finish their sentence - period!
Know what I mean? Leave a comment below - I won't interrupt I promise.
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1 comment:
Hook, line and sinker - you got me with that title!
Along the same lines I miss being able to have a conversation with my husband all at once without being interrupted. While it's wonderful that my son now recognizes that he needs to say "Excuse me" if others are already talking, the part he doesn't recognize is that he may actually have to wait before he can talk. Nope, uh-uh, nice try mum. I want to talk NOW and I said Excuse me!
Oh well - the adult conversation can wait till the boy goes to bed...if either one of us is still awake!
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