Monday - Language Lessons

Back when I was a part of a DINK (Double Income, No Kids) household I used to wonder how people with toddlers seemed to understand exactly what their progeny said to them. Toddler talk didn't make any sense to me; it seemed to be a language discernable to only the child and its parents. Yet when I watched these families interact, they did seem to be communicating, not just making random sounds at each other. A toddler would look at his or her parents and babble something incoherent, and the parents would respond by handing the child something or asking a question for further instructions. In the end all the parties involved would be satisfied while I, on the outside looking in, would be mystified about the whole exchange.

Now that I have kissed those DINKy days goodbye and waded into the murky waters of parenthood it all makes a lot more sense to me. Toddlers really do speak a language all their own. Still, no translation dictionary can be written for this language, which I will dub "toddlerese," because each child creates his or her own unique dialect of it. The only way to learn it is by being fully submerged in the culture of the toddler who speakes it.

( What's mine isn't always mine, and no means more than you think. )