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July 23, 2007

Got "Baby talk for dummies"?

Do you moms & dads get bothered when you don't get what your child is saying? Long back before Ashu, one of our friends used to annoy me a lot by not understanding what his son said and always asked the mother what he was saying. I understand that the mother gets to be with the children thoughout the day and the dad is sort of out of the loop. But this dad never made an effort to understand what the kid was saying and it happened a lot of times. For an observer, it looked as if he was nt a big part of his sons life. And I did nt like what I was seeing.

Fast forward to now, lot of times, Hd and I have no clue what Ashu is saying. And her gibberish baby talk only makes it harder for us to understand her words. but I make her repeat and she patiently repeats it a dozen times and after racking my brain, a light bulb flashes somewhere and I get what shes saying. Like "neithuttr" means she wants a nail cutter to trim the nails of her doll. And she tried so hard to make me understand that one by showing the dolls feet and going to the bathroom and showing the cabinet. And I can see that she gets really upset and makes a sad face and sighs(!) when we don't understand what shes saying. (Yes! She sighs.) And 99% of the time, I don't let her down. But Hd! Well, men will be men and all that but I hate to see the poor things face when he just nods and says OK to whatever she says without understanding a word. This one time, I'm in the bathroom and can hear their conversation. They are doing puzzles and seeing the examples for circle, shes saying Ball, Sun and "pait" looking at the disc shaped thing which I usually say as Frisbee to Ashu. So Hd says "paint? OK" and Ashu says "No appa. Pait". "Pait? OK OK, whats the next shape?" But Ashu is not done. She says "Pait, Appa. Ashu mummam, Appa" but I think Hd has gone on to triangles by now. And I scream from the bathroom, "Shes saying PLATE"! And this is another major reason why I hate sending Ashu to school. Today she told me something she did in school with another little girl, S and I totally did NOT get it. I am becoming like Hd. :(

ps.
Note to self: "Aandhi" is Laundry in Ashu talk. It took 45 minutes and a lot of gesturing to get that one so don't you ever forget that.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thatz so chweet!

Manchus said...

That was really cute!!! You are one understanding Mommy.

Anonymous said...

Boo, you're as cute as Ashu. I feel like pinching your cheeks like an old aunty.

mnamma said...

Cute post! I think it is funnny when parents don't understand what the child is saying, and like you said it is the men who has the most difficulty. My children used to call chips "pishi" when they were around Ashu's age. For figuring that one out it took me almost 3 days :) and I was wondering why they were rolling on the floor crying for 'Pishi'. But most of the time it is 'show and tell' and almost 90% of the time I got it right! My hubby never even tried and I am always the transalator!Don't you worry and enjoy the baby talk when it is there!

Terri the terrific said...

broom, let me join you in pinching boo's cheeks.

Boo, does husband at least make a better effort to understand what you're saying?

Maggie said...

Boo! Same pinch!

I don't get about 90% of what Moppet says, and her papa doesn't understand a single word of hers beyond 'papa' - to which he obligingly replies - 'moppet' in the same tone that she uses with him and of course 'mama' - for which his response is to call me, 'she wants you!'

BAH!

shub said...

:D yeah yeah can I join in on the pinching-the-cheeks thing too?! :)
loved this post! Damn cute!

Asha said...

Too cute! Yeah, it looks like Papas need to put in more effort.

Btw, you have been tagged.

Unknown said...

LOL, am still trying to figure out brat speak 50 per cent of the time so I totally know the feeling... and yes, sometimes feel like clouting the husband on the head when he asks for a translation...

Daisy said...

too cute.. Ashu is such a doll .. how ingenius of her- "pait Ashu mummam appa" ROTFL!

SUR NOTES said...

lovely post.

its hilarious to see the husband heartbroken when he has to turn to me for translations.

Itchingtowrite said...

it is maddening when one cant follow what the kid is saying. when i was carrying, my nephew used to chatter a lot in gibberish andi used to go mad figuring out which language he is speaking.. now cut to today, the same with mine

Just Like That said...

Lol lol lololol Dear cute, patient Ashu!how she perseveres with the clueless parent!

Anusha said...

scene from our lives! and in my case, I turn to my mother for clarification :)
neithuttr and pait indeed! I like how patient/persistent Ashu is - in getting her point across. with sighs and all!

Anonymous said...

So with you on trying to interpret what is going on in school. Couple of days back, I asked her how was her day and she says {something} Mark {something} hit {something} me. I tried launching a mega investigation as to what happened between Mark and Chula. Did she hit him or was it the otherway, who initiated this or was she and Mark observing some one else hitting some other kid. But she lost interest in the topic and started on something else !Urrrgh

timepass said...

Kids have their own vocabulary!!! BTW let me share 2-3 more words with u

athitham-aeroplane
dool-school

Courtesy: my cousins

Something to Say said...

you two have loads of patience. Sonny here, babbles something, I ask him "what", he repeats, I still dont get it - sonny shakes his head and walks off. End of discussion!!

mommyof2 said...

lol!!

~nm said...

Its actually such an apt post. SOmething that has been going in my mind for sometime now. Its only now that Anirudh's pronunciation has become legible (just can't think of the correct word :P) now. But earlier, any guest would be coming up to me and ask what he was saying. But after a whiel it would get irritating.

B o o said...

yy - :)

Manchus - Are you sure? ;)

Broom - Can you pinch and take away some flesh as well? ;)

Mnamma - So true. This is really a very cute stage! Frustrating but still cute!

Terri - Why do you think I have a blog and am talking to strangers, huh? Ashu and I are in the same boat!

Moppets mom - LOL! Sometimes Hd does roll up his sleeves and gets ready for a battle of babytalk, but then! They cant beat the women when it comes to gibberish, can they? ;)

Shub - Whats with my cheeks today? So muchn demand? Any takers on the tummy?

B o o said...

Asha - The judgement tag? *running for cover*

Kiran - But it sure feels good when I figure out what Ashu is saying before Hd. And to give him that smug smile...! Im so going to repent for this!

Daisy - I was quite surprised myself that she was even giving hints! :)

Sur - You said it! ;)

I2W - Even Ashu has a total gibberish language when shes talking to herself or her dolls and I dont bother with that! (Ok, I tried to but its too damn diffcult!) But when shes actually making sense but I cant understand is when it gets really frustrating! And fun too!

JLT - Hey, give some credit to the translator too! ;)

B o o said...

Kodis mom - One month in the US and my sister started cracking the code before me. The puzzle solvers in us would nt go to sleep without getting what shes saying!

UTBT - Ashu has this annoying habit of giving an answet with the same word you used in your question? did you color, I colored. did you play, I played. did you dance, I danced! As if Im planting the answers in her mind. If I ask her "what did you do", she gives a blank stare. sigh!

timepass - Its pane and shool in Ashu talk. These kids are out there to get us, are nt they?

S2S - We are getting there! ;)

Mommyof2 - :)

NM - Oh yeah, guests asking for a translation is really irritating sometimes! And Ashu will be the height of gibberish when guests are around! Kids!

WhatsInAName said...

Absolutely heart-warming :)
Reminds me of my good old days of being lost !

the mad momma said...

I get that once in a while too but it's the OA who looks completely befuddled and hates it!

The Visitor said...

Boo - any part of your cheeks still left?

Ashu surely has a lot of patience- no wonder she's been able to teach her mom a word or two. ;)

And the aim of the post? - an opportunity to brag about someone's 'language' skills by contrasting with someone else's lack of it. :D

No credit to you Boo - it all goes to Ashu.

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