The kids have cracked our codes

As a mum I have to say one of my greatest joys is watching my children learn new things, forming new words and meeting their milestones.

 

Like many parents we always like to think that our children are advanced and fantastic at learning! Then there comes a time when they begin to listen to everything we say and do, and we parents have to watch our ‘Ps and Qs,’ becoming masters of code and spelling. Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be working with our three-year-old.

 

On Saturday we visited my in-laws to catch up on the week. As usual the first thing my son looked for after being greeted was the cars to play with. He has loads at home but I suppose it’s the novelty of playing with new ones. He – like many little boys – has a passion for cars; in fact, so strong is his passion that he can name all the brands!

 

After a few minutes of arriving he asked his grandparents if they would get him a yellow Lamborghini. Of course as grandparents do, they said: “no problem, we will have a look and see if we can get you one in the shops.”

 

The next day my father-in-law made his usual visit after mass to get a cup of coffee, have a chat and play with the kids. While our daughter was napping, our son was in top form, asking lots of questions and persuading his granddad to read him a book.

 

While I was out of the room my husband told his father via both code and spelling that our son had be repeatedly telling us since the day before that N-A-N-N-Y said she was going to get him a Y-E-L-L-O-W, L-A-M-B-O-R-G-H-I-N-I.

As our son heard this, he replied quickly with: “Is she getting that today?” Both my father-in-law and husband looked at each other as if to say: “that’s it, no more spelling!”

 

When my husband told me the story later, I was delighted he was able to understand the spellings. But I was also wondering what we were going to do now. We’ve always had great comfort in saying what we needed said via code and spelling and suddenly we no longer had this luxury.

 

It looks like we won’t just need to watch our ‘Ps and Qs’ but will also need to brush up on our Irish… until he starts school!

Eimear Kelly has worked in hospitality and recruitment but considers becoming a stay-at-home mum to her two children, Logan and Elise, her best career move. Becoming a mum has inspired her to believe in herself and follow her dreams. You can read more from Eimear on her blog Chirps from a Little Red Hen.