Pamy's Place: Toddler Talk
...Although we sometimes get frustrated trying to keep up with toddlers, it is worth it all just to see the look of wonder and joy in their eyes over the simple things of life. Children cause us to slow down and discover with them the beauty that is all around us. They teach us to look closely at things like butterflies and snowflakes. They teach us to dance to music only heard by them and we are rewarded by a sticky hug and kiss. Children remind us of what is really important...
Pamy Blaine is delighted by a phone call from granddaughter Rowan, even though all she hears is jabber, jabber, jabber.
I answered the phone today and at first all I heard was “beep, beep, beep, rustle, rustle, beep, beep.” I was just about to hang up, thinking that either something was wrong with the phone or aliens were trying to contact me. I was wondering whether I should make myself a tin foil hat like on the movie, Signs, when sudden understanding came to me. I began to smile when I heard a tiny voice speaking in a strange mixed language.
“Jabber, jabber, jabber…..Jeanna?”
Quickly I looked at the caller ID and sure enough, it was my daughter’s number. I knew it had to be my granddaughter, Rowan. Her vocabulary, although quite good for a two-year-old, is sometimes a little difficult to follow. She often reverts to Rowanese which is her own “toddler talk” that only she understands. She simply interspersed her toddler talk with the few words that she knew. The conversation continued, going something like this:
“Hello Rowan. . . no this isn’t Aunt Jeanna, this is Grammy.”
“Jabber, jabber, jabber……Paw-Paw?''
“Rowan, this is Grammy, not Paw-Paw. Hello!”
“Jabber, jabber, jabber.''
Beep…beep…beep…
We were back to the beeping. . . she was pushing the buttons again. Well, after all, she hadn’t been able to get Aunt Jeanna or Paw-Paw, and who wanted to be stuck with talking to Grammy anyway, so I guess pushing more buttons seemed like the obvious thing to do.
I kept trying to talk to her, “Hi Rowan, it’s Grammy. . . Rowan? Rowan?…”
Again I heard, “Jabber, jabber, click, bang, bang, clunk, bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. . . end of conversation.
I was laughing as I hung up the phone and I was about to call my daughter to see what was going on when she called me.
“Did Rowan call you?” My daughter asked.
“Yes, she did,” I replied, “But it was Jeanna or Paw-Paw that she wanted to talk to, I’m just chopped liver today it seems.”
My daughter continued, “Well, I just looked…stop that Rowan!...and she had my cell phone…get down from there!….and when I pushed the stop button your number was there so…Rowan, no-no!..I figured she must have somehow called you. Rowan has been into everything today . . . give it to Mommy, no you can’t have that!''
Screaming in the background.
“Rowan, do you want to talk to Grammy?” my daughter asked hopefully.
More shrieking in the background.
“I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I don’t think she wants to talk to me right now.” I quickly concluded.
Well, they say, “what goes around, comes around” and all of this “toddler talk” reminded me of another time and another place. Rowan’s mother, who is my daughter, was quite the conversationalist and was a lot like Rowan. Before she could barely even walk, I found my daughter sitting in the middle of the dining room table where I had prepared dinner, and she was chewing on a pork chop! I was never quite sure how she managed to get up on the tabletop. Since she was too little to eat a pork chop, (according to her pediatrician anyway), I ended up eating her “chewed on” pork chop for dinner. She wasn’t too happy about giving it up either.
Another “toddler talk” incident happened when my little daughter’s aunt took her shopping and they stopped at the catalog desk to pick up a package. When the heavily built employee turned to go into the back room to get the package, my two-year-old daughter very loudly exclaimed, “Where did the fat lady go!” I don’t think her aunt went back to that store for a long time and I have wondered if there is still a dusty package sitting in the back room of a catalog department somewhere.
Although we sometimes get frustrated trying to keep up with toddlers, it is worth it all just to see the look of wonder and joy in their eyes over the simple things of life. Children cause us to slow down and discover with them the beauty that is all around us. They teach us to look closely at things like butterflies and snowflakes. They teach us to dance to music only heard by them and we are rewarded by a sticky hug and kiss. Children remind us of what is really important. Their “toddler talk” somehow lightens our burdens and makes us smile at the wonder and truthfulness of the way they see things.
© 2006
Kids: they dance before they learn there is anything that isn't music - William Stafford
