My children constantly amaze me. Consistently I am surprised at what comes out of their mouths. It is a little window into how their brain works, and what is important to them, or what seemingly insignificant statement or action they deem worthy of pondering and talking about. In the last month my twenty month old daughter's vocabulary has exploded, and she has moved from single words to joining 2 or 3 into a sentence. You can see the wheels turning as she discovers that if she combines 1 word with another she can convey her desires. In fact is was the words “Baby Time” that brought this new awareness to my attention. I was changing her diaper, and she had found her old pacifier and was taunting me with it. Next thing I know I hear her say “baby time” and then slap the binky in her mouth. I believe she put at least two different experiences together in her mind to communicate to me that she was going to suck on that binky, and she was going to give that action a name. First, she has been watching her brother play Mario Cart ®. His favorite character is Baby Mario, who when selected says “Oh Yeah Baby time”. So she has heard these words together many times, but in a completely different context, having nothing to do with the binky. Second, she has heard me say, “oh you don't want that binky. That is for babies. You're a big girl.” It seems to me that she is pulling these two different experiences together to create a completely new time of day. Lunch time, nap time, and now baby time. Perhaps I am reading to much into it, but I don't think so. I believe my baby girl is becoming a big girl with complex thoughts that she wants to communicate.
My son also brought to my attention this week that I need to be aware of what I say and how it may be perceived by someone still learning the language. I was visiting with my neighbor while the kids were playing in the yard. My neighbor was sneezing, and this got us on the discussion of allergies. I mentioned that I sneeze every time I look into the sun, so I must be “allergic to the sun”. (This by the way is an actual medical condition that is believed to be passed on genetically called Achoo Syndrome so no laughing.) Anyway, a few minutes later my boy walked up to me and said in a sad, questioning voice. “Daddy, you are allergic to me?” Of course I immediately gave him a big hug, and told him no, and explained I was not allergic to my S-O-N, but to the S-U-N. I showed him by looking directly into the sun, and sneezing my head off. (Well I suppose I should rephrase that. My head did not actually fall off my body. I just sneezed uncontrollably about six times in a row)
The moral of the story is that kids are amazing little individuals with incredibly complex things going on in their disproportionately large heads, and we would be wise to not underestimate them just because they may not be able to communicate their thoughts as well as we supposedly can. They are truly little sponges that soak up everything. We need to be aware of the incredible impact we can have on kids. Intentional or not, what we expose children to, and especially our words have an immense amount of power, and can change the way they view the world. Imagine if my son had not said anything, and spent the rest of his life believing I was allergic to him. As he grew up he would not even think about it, it would just be a subtle and quiet “fact” in his mind that he never really thinks about or questions. The world is round, the sky is blue, and my dad is allergic to me. I know I will be more careful what “facts” I teach my two beautiful, brilliant little humans.
No comments:
Post a Comment