Too Cute To Change

It seems like children have always been drawn to me - maybe it is because I have a tendency to meet them where they are developmentally, while at the same time recognizing that their intellect and ability to communicate verbally don't always match-up. That means as a general rule I try not to condescend to children, or insult them with baby-talk.

One of my favorite stages of child development is the period of time when language is being acquired. I revel in the journey that children make to communicate their needs and be fully understood. Sometimes I feel like children honor me as a translator for them, creating that link from child to world. It is even more delightful to me to witness the sheer joy children express as they begin to master language and communication with the discovery of wordplay.

When my granddaughter Anna was about one-and-a-half, she kept us all (Daddy, Grandma and GG) in stitches at the dinner table when she discovered the meaning of the word "napkin" (or as she says it "mapkin") and the power that she had to engage her grown-ups in the napkin game. Anybody looking in would have seen three adults lifting up their white napkins and waving them vigorously and joyfully over their head everytime Anna said napkin and waved hers! Even now, months later I can't correct Anna's pronounciation of the word napkin because it is simply too cute to change.

In my humble opinion Anna's vocabulary and communication skills are quite advanced for her age. Yet, for the time being these little language mistakes will be met with only a smile and the resolve to freeze-frame the memory of that darling little girl as she says, among other things: mapkin for napkin; tub-bub for bathtub; packback for backpack; and noising instead of sound.