Wednesday, November 19, 2008

She Said It, Not Me!

For those of you with kids you know what its like trying to teach little ones new words. For those of you who don’t, it’s a tedious process. It seems like the words they latch on to immediately are the ones you had nothing to do with (like the time my little one came home from daycare showing me her “ehbow”). The converse of that, of course, is that the words you try to teach them end up getting glossed over and forgotten quickly if ever picked up at all.

I’ve basically given up trying to teach Coco specific words and have begun just letting her pick up vocab at her own speed. I still throw a word at her now and again just to see what she does with it. I usually just ask her “Can you say _____”. She understands that means I want her to try and repeat the last word I said. It works well and for the most part and she at least gives it a go.

The issue comes when whatever word I am asking her to repeat sounds like another word she already knows. If they are too similar she simply reverts to the known word. Using “elbow” for example: she has a stuffed Hippo which she was carrying around one day. I asked Coco “Can you say ‘hippo’?” She looked at me and immediately said “ehbow?” We went through this a few times but really got no closer to hippo so I let it drop.

That bring us to this weekend. It was just Coco and I – Daddy was out running an errand. As she was running amok playing with her toys, I was sitting out the couch polishing off what remained of a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos. Cora decided she needed some of whatever mommy was having. Not really wanting her to have Doritos, I realized that they weren’t all that great for me either. I told Cora, “Mommy shouldn’t be eating these – these are yuck. Mommy will turn into a fatty if she keeps eating them. Can you say “fatty”?” (Yes I know, it was terribly PC but such is life) Those little eyes looked and me and without skipping a beat she said “Daddy!”

It’s a good thing I was already sitting down because I laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes. Soon thereafter, Hubby got home from his errands. As he was in the foyer removing his scarf and coat, I brought Coco in to meet him. I couldn’t help myself – I asked Coco “Can you tell Daddy’s how you say fatty?” To which she dutifully and proudly stated “Daddy!!” Hubby did not share my enthusiasm for her new found humor. He simply stared at me, scarf in hand, and said “Nice.” Then with a little gleam in his eye said, “Just wait until I have some alone time with her.”

Humph. Poor sport. Let me go on record as saying Daddy is anything BUT a “fatty”. Therein lies most of the humor. But I suppose being called one by your 17 month-old isn’t exactly charming. For him. I mean I thought it was hilarious. Hmmm. Whatever. Funny is funny. If you can’t warp your young child to your own ends, what’s the point of having children for Pete’s sake?

3 comments:

CopperDog said...

You neglected to mention that her Aunt Gigi continued to have trouble with stairs, falling down two more flights over the years, for a running total of 3 to date. Let's hope this is the end of following in her footsteps. :)

Our Family said...

That post had me laughing out loud!!! Good girl Cora!!!! :)

Amy said...

That's funny....I can't say as I remember trying to 'teach' any of my kids to talk. Just something they did on their own, I thought.