My Little Prodigy

On Tuesday I volunteered in Ironflower's class. I participated in circle time and then read the kids a story. It was so weird to be using my teacher voice but not be able to correct behavior and whatnot. Not that I wanted to correct very much behavior (her class really is very well-behaved), but it was very odd not having it be my job.

Still, it was a lot of fun. I thought Ironflower might show off in front of me, or shut down as some of the other moms reported their kids doing when they went in to read. But no, Ironflower handled the situation with total aplomb. She was her typical self - about four times more verbal then the other kids. Seriously, she's a talking prodigy. During circle time, Mrs.G. asked each kid to talk about his or her Easter. Most kids replied with a few sentences, some replied in short answers to Mrs.G's prompts. And then came Ironflower. Mrs.G. actually had to interrupt her, so detailed and lengthy was her description of Easter.

That afternoon she talked throughout her entire nap time. TWO HOURS. Sure some days, she doesn't sleep the whole time and I hear her chattering away. But I was within ear shot the whole time and she never, ever paused. It was amazing. She was telling stories, and having conversations with her kitty AND talking to her imaginary friends the dinosaurs - sometimes all at once.

No wonder I sometimes worry about Lovebug's language skills - he speaks like a normal child. By the time Ironflower was his age, she spoke in complete sentences ALL the time. And now she talks in paragraphs. She's even developed a game that emphasizes talking. She describes an animal and then it's your job to guess what it is. Then you describe an animal and she guesses what it is. Yesterday she and Hubby were playing in the car (Ironflower is adamant that this is a two person game only) and he was describing a zebra, "It's black and white, kinda looks like a horse and stars with 'zzz'". Ironflower was stumped long enough for Lovebug to chime in, "Ze-Buh!"

He may not be the talking prodigy his sister is, but he sure doesn't miss anything!

My Talking Prodigy

My daughter is almost two and a half. She is beautiful (no, really, strangers tell me so all the time), spirited and smart. I love her to distraction. But sometimes I really, really wish she would stop talking. Just for five minutes or so.

Last summer we visited my cousin, who has a son about ten months older than Ironflower. He was two and a half to her twenty months, and I remember being so glad that Ironflower didn't talk all the time like G. did. I actually thought it was a personality thing, not a developmental thing. Haha on me.

Someday she will be a sullen teenager and I will not be privy to every thought she is having. I will look back fondly at this time, as I try to unobtrusively eavesdrop on the conversations she has with friends. But that time is not here yet. And today I'm rather looking forward to it.

My daughter doesn't merely have monologues about the Backyardigans and the challenges of putting up with her one year old brother. Ironflower likes her monologues punctuated with appropriate one-liners from me. Always reminds me of helping Hot Guy practice lines for one Shakespearean tragedy or another. Miss those one or two lines from the other characters and poor hubby's practice is all messed up. Ironflower, too, feels messed up if I miss a line. If I have the audacity to ignore her (however briefly), she will just get louder and louder until I come up with the right response.

Sometimes I imagine that when my son learns to really talk, he will be able to take over these duties from me. I can see why Ironflower isn't satisfied with ess (yes), uh (up), dada, ice (rice) and ns (nurse). But then I think, what if he likes to talk as much as he does? What if I have to start listening to two toddlers' monologues ALL DAY?