The process of linguistic development in my toddler has an interesting trajectorial learning curve. There are 'hills' and 'troughs' within this process, as expected, however living within the circumstantial snafus of communication between my daughter and I has quite a different twist to it. Some words she says with pristine clarity while others are still under construction, as is natural. I thought for a while that I was understanding most of what she said fairly well. I think I still do, but some of her sentences have taken on a rushed, slurred quality that I did not notice before. No doubt this is a stepping stone to more pronounced clarity within sentences.
I know it would be supremely frustrating if I were not able to be understood by my friends and nieghbors on a daily basis. For the most part Shayla and I do just fine. When her mom is at home we help each other out on the occasional words that the other may miss which is very helpful. Every once in a while I give up and just go, "Un huh" to something I am not quite clear about. Mostly I explain to her that I do not understand and we figure it out until we seem to understand each other. It's an interesting process.
Today we encountered an especially frustrating moment at nap time. I was laying her down and she was trying to tell me something about her preferred blanket arrangement for her nap. I wasn't quite getting it. I asked her several times to explain it again which she did in the same exact slurred sentence. I did my best, but I know that I didn't get it right. I explained that to her and she accepted it, but was still frustrated.
All of this leads me to wonder what percentage of the time do parents precisely understand the communication that their toddler is imparting? Age comes naturally. You have to work for Wisdom.
I know it would be supremely frustrating if I were not able to be understood by my friends and nieghbors on a daily basis. For the most part Shayla and I do just fine. When her mom is at home we help each other out on the occasional words that the other may miss which is very helpful. Every once in a while I give up and just go, "Un huh" to something I am not quite clear about. Mostly I explain to her that I do not understand and we figure it out until we seem to understand each other. It's an interesting process.
Today we encountered an especially frustrating moment at nap time. I was laying her down and she was trying to tell me something about her preferred blanket arrangement for her nap. I wasn't quite getting it. I asked her several times to explain it again which she did in the same exact slurred sentence. I did my best, but I know that I didn't get it right. I explained that to her and she accepted it, but was still frustrated.
All of this leads me to wonder what percentage of the time do parents precisely understand the communication that their toddler is imparting? Age comes naturally. You have to work for Wisdom.