When I was a kid, I loved Inspector Gadget. I yearned to solve mysteries and fight crime. I remember having so much fun with a secret decoder device that came in a specially-marked canister of Kool-Aid.
Fast forward 25 years or so (gulp!), and I’m still a kid at heart.
I fight household crime…my aim is to keep our den safe from toy-taking, hair-pulling, and biting.
I solve mysteries…like whatever happened to the missing orange star from our shape sorter? [It was under the couch.]
And I have what I think is a pretty cool secret decoder gadget…
See, our girls are quite the conversationalists. “Gah!” “Bah!” “Buh!” “Dah!” “Di!” “Mih!” “Rah!” You name the consonant, and they can make the sound. And of course these “sounds” all have immense meaning.
Thank goodness for my dictionary of baby sign language, which in my experience rivals even the best secret decoder ring. Heaven forbid if Mommy was unable to distinguish between “Bah!” with fingertips touching [ball], and “Buh!” with palms together, open upwards [book]. We might otherwise have a nuclear meltdown that not even the likes of the Powerpuff Girls could solve.
That, coupled with my Sixth Mommy Sense to figure out why the girls start signing “bear” when I ask them if they wants pears, makes me feel like part of their Secret Society.
And now if I can continue to guide them to use their WonderTwin powers for the pursuit of truth, justice, and the American way…and not just to baffle Mommy…we’ll all live happily ever after.
I'm linking up with Missy today for Say What?!? Wednesday...this is as close as our girls get to recorded conversation right now. :)
Ticker
9 comments:
Teaching my girls just a few signs was well worth it. I taught them "more," "milk," and "hungry" and suddenly many of our meltdowns were eliminated.
I've had several friends say, "Oh, I was inspired by your girls to try sign, but it was so much work that I stopped." I can't help thinking it's more work to deal with the crying and frustration of not being able to communicate!
Yay for Mommy decoders!
so cute! you DO have to be a detective. funny--i still sing the inspector gadget song to the kids, lol.
we just started singing with them. they're only 9 months old, but hopefully they will eventually sign back! :)
I think teaching our kids to sign prevented more than 100 possible meltdowns, and was so worth all the effort we had to put it. They both still love to sign (especially while singing) and still sign "more" and "please" and a handful of others even though they're both quite verbal now.
Glad to hear that you put your detective skills to good use to help find that orange star. We're missing quite a few toys, and I cannot for the life of me figure out where they've gone. I feel like I've searched everywhere. Perhaps you'll need to make a trip up North. :o)
Good on you! Signing will definitely help language development (I say this with some authority as I am a trained speech pathologist).
BTW Next time you put your Inspector Gadget hat on, can you find my missing set of keys? My annoying aka gorgeous twins are master 'post'ers and have slotted them into some nook in the house. V. frustrating!
Ah, love your post. Yes, being a mommy of twins who have just started to speak can be quite like solving mysteries. Knowing the difference between "buh" and "bah" is a lifesaver:)
Thank you for playing along! How funny! I love it! My girls had their very own language when they were younger and apparently, they were the only ones who understood each other. I wished we would have tried signing back then.
That is pretty awesome. :) We tried, but only got a few signs down. I love it that you played along with Miss, I can't wait to do it too!
I absolutely had to teach my kids sign language because they were all late talkers. Even now, sometimes the 3-yr olds use sign language when they get frustrated with me.
Great post!!
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