I've always known that how you talk to your kids when they're learning to speak is how they will communicate with you. Thus, whenever we talked to Aria, we would use "yes, ma'am," "no,ma'am," "please," and "thank you." We're also really conscious about saying "you're welcome" and "excuse me" very clearly to Aria, so that she will learn how and when to use these as well. She's finally reached the age where this is really starting to pay off, and it's been really adorable to hear her say "tank ooh" and "geesey" (excuse me) in their proper contexts.
However, it wasn't until this past week where the "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am" really entered her vocabulary. And it entered with a bang. As I have blogged before, Aria is at that stage where she now understands the concept of disobeying. When she was younger, the thought never really occurred to her to disobey. This was a lovely time, and she was a perfect child. Ok, not really, but it was nice. Now, she's two. And she thinks it's cute to disobey. I have no clue where she got that idea from.
However, it wasn't until this past week where the "yes ma'am" and "no ma'am" really entered her vocabulary. And it entered with a bang. As I have blogged before, Aria is at that stage where she now understands the concept of disobeying. When she was younger, the thought never really occurred to her to disobey. This was a lovely time, and she was a perfect child. Ok, not really, but it was nice. Now, she's two. And she thinks it's cute to disobey. I have no clue where she got that idea from.
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| Aria's epic "sad face" |
Anyways... all that to say, last week, I asked her to stop jumping on the couch. A rather reasonable request, I thought. Apparently, not to Aria. She was enjoying herself far too much to be deterred from her jumping. I asked again more forcefully; "Aria, sit on your bottom right now." The response I got? "NO MA'AM!"
It took all my self-control to not burst out laughing at this rather respectful rebellion. I mean, wasn't this what I had wanted by talking to her that way since birth? It just didn't go down quite like I had imagined. (She still got a time out, despite the cuteness, by the way.)
Although I was glad that all that effort had finally (sort of) paid off, it reminded me once again how closely my little booger is listening to the words I use, and how I talk to her. "Oh by careful, little mouth what you say" because your toddler will shortly be repeating it, and it may not always be quite so cute.
It took all my self-control to not burst out laughing at this rather respectful rebellion. I mean, wasn't this what I had wanted by talking to her that way since birth? It just didn't go down quite like I had imagined. (She still got a time out, despite the cuteness, by the way.)
Although I was glad that all that effort had finally (sort of) paid off, it reminded me once again how closely my little booger is listening to the words I use, and how I talk to her. "Oh by careful, little mouth what you say" because your toddler will shortly be repeating it, and it may not always be quite so cute.
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