Living in a house with two little kids, there’s no mincing words. Toddlers “don’t do” tact, and their vocabulary is quite limited, so there’s really no other option but for them to communicate simply and call things as they see them. Cooper is a prime example.
When he decided he wanted to learn to count, he was off and running. But when I introduced him to written numbers, he stumbled a little when he got past 10. See, to him, the number 1 is “one”. So shouldn’t that mean number 11 is “one dee one”? And likewise, shouldn’t 12 be “one dee two”, and so on? The boy simply wanted to say it as he saw it.
That really got me thinking: How much simpler would life be if we could all communicate so easily and to the point? With only a little “dee” or a “a la” stuck in here and there, is it possible that we really could all just get along?
Like those annoying little habits our spouses pick up over the years. We let them slip by in the beginning because we love them and all of life is a honeymoon, but eventually time passes and the new wears off, and all those cute little quirks they had in the beginning simply become intolerable. It seems to me a furrowed brow and a quick “no nose-dee-picking in public” should be enough to get the point across. Or a one time clothes pin to the nostrils and a little “toot a la shoo shoo” done once in the company of others—maybe that would leave an impression? Wouldn’t life be sweet if we could just communicate like our kids?
Brisco has almost mastered this concept. His latest is to let me know that “Daddy’s spankings are harder” than the ones I seem to administer. Of course he usually informs me of this with tears streaming down his face after a couple of swats given by his weakling of a mother.
Sometimes his communication is so simple that it borders on the insane. For example, if I ask him why he took a crayon and scribbled all over Grandmother’s kitchen table, his response might be, “Because I did.” Or if I ask why he likes to curl up his nose and talk like a duck with his bill stapled shut, he might say, “Because I do.” I can’t wait till he uses that kind of reasoning on an English teacher someday.
Cooper, on the other hand, is always inventing new and ingenious ways to say the simple. It is usually entertaining and quite satisfying to hear such uncomplicated, direct descriptions of things we use everyday. For example, his favorite tool is a “tap tap” that he uses for (what else) tapping nails into place. He likes the “twister” for working on screws, and what other than a “shooter” would be used for bundling all those stacks of newspapers.
I’ve been told by my boys that I’m mean, that I’m silly, and that their daddy is stinky. Well, they are right on all counts. And none of their straightforward comments were intended to do anything but convey simple thoughts, directly and precisely. I’m glad I’m taking notes.
In a world full of commercial disclaimers, fine print, and political repartee, it’s refreshing to know we can still sit down with those we love and have an honest exchange about the important things in life. Like why mommy “keeps making the squash when she knows I don’t like it”, or discussing the universal experience of “when there are boogers in my nose, I have to get them out.”
It’s nice to know someone is shooting straight with me when they call a pimple an “owie”, or say that my legs feel “stickery”, or that I need to “clean up this dirty kitchen”. It’s painfully necessary to hear the cold hard truth after I lose my patience and raise my voice, and see the honest looks on their faces that tell me a chapter full of stories I’d rather not hear.
Yes, children will call it like they see it, say it like they mean it, and leave no room for misinterpretation. What a blessing it is to have children in our lives to remind us that communication really is that simple.
And that’s All in a day’s work!
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