I REMEMBER WHEN THEY COULDN'T TALK

One of my favorite things to do is have a good conversation with one of my kids. I still can remember when they couldn't talk and now appreciate their talent to communicate.

Thomas was somewhat of a late talker and had many words he mispronounced. He called his sister Erin "Ya Ya". The moon was "mmmm". He could not pronounce the sound "oy" until he was almost 5 years old. So boy became bear and toy became tear. I can still remember the look of shock and joy on his face the first time boy came out of his mouth sounding right. My husband still calls pillows "boopahs" because of Thomas's mispronunciation. My friend was always looking for the why. She said Thomas was a late talker because I didn't let him interact with other kids enough. She suggested I get out of the house more. Then she told me my youngest was not talking because apparently she was having too much interaction with kids - my other kids were talking for her and she became too lazy to talk. She suggested I ignore her until she said things clearly. I guess she thought Erin talked early because she had the middle child syndrome of trying to get more attention. Some how, at the time, I knew that they were just born that way. They were hardwired to talk when they were good and ready!

Once Thomas and Sarah began to talk they kept me smiling with what they had to say. Thomas saying the hose had a canker sore when it had a kink and Sarah with her grown up analysis of life's problems. Erin has always made me smile with the sheer volume of what she had to say. She could talk almost perfectly by the time she was two but even before her words were clear she made complete paragraphs out of her gibberish. All of her dialogues were emphasized with her various hand movements. You can imagine how cute an 18 month old looks having a completely indecipherable conversation with me. I actually would respond as if I knew exactly what she was saying.

I'm still listening with interest although I have to admit sometimes even now I pretend to know exactly what they are saying...when in reality all I hear is "whan, whan, whan, whan, whan, whan". You know how the kids in the Peanuts gang hear grown-ups talk. Well kids, sometimes it works both ways!