Monday, July 20, 2009

Math in the Real World

A boy once broke up with me using a graph, so why can't I do the same to explain how it's been being Rhett's mom?

Up until recently, it seemed that every single day I spent mothering Rhett, being his mom became easier and easier. Not only was he becoming easier (sleeping through nights, sitting, walking, etc.) but I was getting better. In no time was I cruising out of the house in less than five minutes compared to the 40 minutes it took when Rhett was a newborn. I loved it.

But these days, it seems like we're reversing that trend (see Figure 1). And it's all because of a little thing called "communication." While he's understanding so much of what we say (bath, go, doggie, snack,...) we are understanding nothing of what he says, with the exception of "bubble," "mama," "dogdog," and a few other words. And it's hard. Especially because at this age of nearly 16 months, he wants things. I just don't know what these things are. To him, everything edible is "num num." Well what the %&*! is this elusive "num num" if it's not milk, animal crackers, a banana, or one of the multitude of other things we offer him? And while we're talking about it, where did he get this word "num num" anyway? It's not like Chuck and I when discussing what to have for dinner say, "How about a nice plate of hot num num?" Because we don't. Kids!

Anyway, let's just hope this graph starts taking an upward trend...and soon.


5 comments:

  1. yes, this is a fun stage with kids, ha. but really it is. but it's also hard b/c of the whole communication thing. they realize they can "talk," but unfortunately they really can't. so it's frustrating for him and you. you'll understand him more and more each day. good luck.

    who broke up with you with a graph?

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  2. There are so many stages they go through and each stage you'll find parts you love and parts that can sometimes be just infuriating. But once you're through the stage, you tend to forget how hard it was and smile about the fun parts :)

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  3. You reminded me of a similar story. It took Katie and I two weeks of constant screaming to figure out that when Marin asked for "Bumps" she was really asking for Reese’s Peanut Butter Puff's cereal. The only thing that we can figure is that they felt like bumps in her mouth so she called them “bumps.” We still refer to it as Bumps cereal and she only ever gets it on special occasions.
    Good luck figuring num num’s out.

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  4. Love it!!!!! I promise when they can communicate and pick their words precisely, you'll have moments where you were wishing you were back at 16 months!!!!

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  5. I don't think it got easier fir me until age 4. Even when the words are there, the communication/reasoning thing takes forever to catch up. I finally feel like the twins are coming out of that hard phase...onto another I suppose! By the way--I'd love to hear the break-up story. I busted when I read the graph statement. Only you, Erin!

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