How do we speak to our children?

Babies start to hear your voice at around 15 weeks into the pregnancy. Some mothers read to their unborn babies and we talk to them as part of the daily routine. When the baby is born they recognise our voice immediately and listen to us talk every day. We are their role models for everything and they are like little sponges.

I refuse to dumb my language down just because Little G is only 2. Since she was a baby I have used correct names for things and always given an honest answer to any questions she may ask me.

I recently went to the farm and was surrounded by parents calling animals ‘moo cow’ and ‘baa sheep’. For goodness sake they are cows and sheep! Little G is able to tell me the names of the animals and the sound that they make. No need to blend them into one!

My mum once laughed at me when Little G asked me ‘What’s that?’ and I replied ‘That’s a thermostat, it makes the room just the right temperature’. She had a try at saying thermostat and was happy with the answer I had given. Now, I could have just said ‘oh that is a special box for grown ups to use’ but what would be the good in that? Whether she fully grasped what I was talking about was irrelevant. She needs to know that I will always answer questions to the best of my ability.

I believe that every moment is a learning experience. Today Little G woke up with a cold. I decided to give her some vitamin c so I let her plop the tablet into the glass and see what happened. Her little face lit up as she saw it fizzing about and making bubbles in the glass.

I told her it was effervescent and that means it is making bubbles in the water. I also told her it was full of vitamins that would help her body get rid of the germs. She wasn’t able to say effervescent but she understood what it meant and happily drank the whole lot.

You may be reading this thinking ‘pushy mother!’ but I can assure you I’m not. I’m pretty lazy as it goes, especially considering I am a teacher. But I just don’t see the point in hiding information or simplifying things unnecessarily. I talk to Little G as a person not as a ‘child that doesn’t understand’ and she listens and learns every day.