ENLARGEPhotograph by Jim Hannon
Jennifer and Kyndal Kilpatrick share some “high scream” in their “chicken.”
For some people, those statements may be as clear as Charlie Brown’s teacher’s statement of “Wa waa waa waa wa.” But as the mother of a toddler, it makes perfect sense.
Since she was very small, my 3-year-old daughter has had a language of her own. Don’t get me wrong. She speaks very clearly for her age. She, however, says things like she hears them. As a matter of fact, she will argue with you until the cows come home that her way is the right way.
Here’s an example. Instead of “kitchen,” she says “chicken.” So if she tells you that she is in the chicken, she doesn’t necessary mean inside an animal.
She means the place in your home where the “fridgerfrater” is located. While you are there, check and see if we have some “ba-yella high-scream” (vanilla ice cream).
Of course, if someone comes to visit while you are in there, they might ring the “taco bell” (doorbell). Having a toddler really makes you realize how many words sound similar.
While feeding baby food to her baby brother and sister, pears and carrots, she heard me say “bears and parrots.” What an image she must have had in her head.
Everything has a literal meaning for a toddler.
Just the other day, she asked, “Mommy, where are we going today?” I replied, “Nowhere.”
Realizing that she wanted the opposite, she responsed with, “But I want to go ‘YESwhere.’ ”
Why don’t we say yeswhere instead of somewhere? It makes sense to me. Heading out the door for a shopping trip I said, “If you’re good, we’ll get ice cream while we’re out.”
She looked at me with confused eyes, ran into the “chicken” straight to the “fridgerfrater” and said, “Look, Mommy we’re not out. I found ‘high-scream.’ ”
It may sound confusing to some, but for our family, it’s just toddler talk that will disappear much too soon.
