Little Boy learns new words every day, which is absolutely so fun. He started using his first phrase - "What's that?" - a couple of weeks ago, and my favorite use of that phrase occurred during breakfast on Sunday. I had just handed him two slices of string cheese, and out of the corner of my eye, I watched him peer at them for a moment, pick them up, and then hurl them to the ground as if they had offended him in some way. I turned around and said, "Aiden, what did you just do with your cheese?" He surveyed his tray intently, then glanced over one side of the high chair, and then looked over the other side where the cheese lay defeated on the floor. He gasped and said, "Uh-oh! What's that?" in a tone that clearly said, "How in the world did my cheese get on the floor over here?" Where do kids learn these tricks?! Too cute!
But, friends, I am now in trouble from my hubby for teaching Aiden a not-so-cute word: Yucky. My intentions were good, I assure you. I thought "yucky" would be a great way to teach Aiden certain boundaries without teaching him the dreaded N-O word.
"Yucky" to pulling dirty diapers and wipes out of the diaper pail
"Yucky" to eating kernels of cat food that he found on the kitchen floor
"Yucky" to playing in the outdoor garbage cans on the side of the house
Unfortunately I failed to think through the possibility that Aiden might begin to grasp the concept of this word and start using it on his own terms.
"Yucky" to green beans for lunch just before he sends them flying through the air like green torpedoes
"Yucky" to the shirt I'm trying to desperately tug over his head as he attempts to throw himself off of the changing table
"Yucky" to the cashier at the grocery store for absolutely no reason
Now I have the nearly impossible task of trying to unteach a word. Or at the very least continue to get him to use words on my terms and not his.
Green beans are "yummy"
Clothes are "fun" (and "necessary")
Cashiers are "nice"
Dirty diapers are still "yucky"
Wish me luck! I'm afraid the learning and unlearning (or reassigning uses) of vocabulary words only gets harder from here on out!
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2 comments:
Yucky is one of Reese's favorite words, though she uses it as an observation rather than a protest. It makes it hard though when one spouse thinks something is yummy and the other yucky. I have to give Brian the evil eye so that he won't call her beans "yucky."
She does also day no, but it's usually like a warning. She'll look at something she's not supposed not climb on, and say "No, no, no, no, no!" because she knows the rule. Then she's climb on it. sigh!
We ran into this same problem with Ellie - except she says "ckkkkkkkkkkkkk!" (The sound I make when telling her not to eat rocks, stick her hand into her diaper mid-change, etc.) Now she says it to me when she doesn't want vegetables, etc. OY!
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