Fwustrating

(I hope I don't sound soap boxish in this post.)

I don't believe in dumbing down speech for little kids. I believe kids can use sophisticated vocabulary properly if they are given the chance. Nothing hurts my ears more than hearing a mother at the gym say, "Come on ______, Let's go play-play." or "Do you want some nana?" to a two year old. I think baby talk makes parents feel better and really does very little for kids. Don't get me wrong, I've used high pitched voices and inflections and things like that, but I call a banana a banana. Pants are pants and not pantsy wantsies or something gross like that. My one exception to this rule is when names are involved. I think it's completely endearing for a child to have a cute name for an adult if they can't say their full name yet (and even thereafter if it is agreeable to all parties).

Well, all this proper talk has come to bite me in the behind. During a recent playtime with trains, J began to scream at the top of his lungs and yell, "I'm freaking out! I'm freaking out!" He has used this phrase before, and I've found it to be quite funny at times, but the phrase along with the ear piercing howling is no fun in a room that carries a huge echo. I also find it to be pretty unacceptable behavior and I thought I could do something to help that behavior out. After a few consecutive screams and freak out sessions that day, I very calmly said to J, "You know what? I understand you're having a tough time with your trains. Instead of screaming when you're having a tough time, I think it might help me if you use some words to tell me how you're feeling. I think the word you're looking for is frustrated." I'm pretty sure he heard this word on Sesame Street before and I gave him some small examples of how it feels to be frustrated. I encouraged him to say, "I'm frustrated" whenever he felt like he wanted to scream. J was happy with this suggestion and repeated the phrase a few times. Then he was eager to get back to playing trains. I think he would have eaten green beans at this point if it meant that we could get back to playing.

Well, the screaming has stopped, but guess what I hear at least 30 times a day now? "Mommy, I fwustrated." When I ask why he's frustrated, I get responses like, "I want a banana, I want you to read me a story, I don't want to go to bed, I'm not tired, I don't want to get in the car, I want some milk..." You name it and he's frustrated about it. The killer is that he uses this soft, sweet voice and adds a little snide smile at the end as if he knows that is going to get him whatever he wants. And of course, it's as cute as can be, so it often works.

So we're working on using "I'm frustrated" in a limited capacity without welcoming screaming back into our home. B can't help but laugh and say, "See what you've done?" Yes, it seems I've created a sneaky little monster for the time being, but at least that little monster isn't saying, "I'm freaky weeking out!" or something awful like that!

On a lighter note, I've also gotten him to say, "I can see Russia from my house!" because that is just too funny.