Talkie Talk Talk

As I was getting ready to walk Jack to preschool he ran up the stairs saying, "Wait mom, I porgot someping!" I followed him up to his room and said, "What did you forget?" "My talkie talk talks."

"Jack, you can't take toys to preschool. Miss Holly would not be happy about that."

"It's not a toy, mom. It's a talkie talk talk."

"Jack, a walkie talkie is a toy and you can't take it to school."

"No mom, it's a talkie talk talk. And dat's not a toy."

"Jack, toy or not, you can't take it to school. Let's go before you are late."

Well, lately I realized that we are a whole family of talkie talk talks. Even Maisy, who seldom forms understandable words, just might engage a perfect stranger, if they'll listen, in a chorus of "A da da ba da ba." I think the exception is Evan and the occasionally quiet Ella.

I guess they get it honest. But it wasn't always this way, there was a time when I didn't talk a lot and there are occasions when I don't. When I was a freshman in high school I signed up for a public speaking course because I couldn't order a pizza without being nervous. I don't know if it comes from being sick and having adults talk about me without ever really talking to me, or if its because I am somewhat the Ella amongst my four friendly siblings. But the truth is I can, on occasion, clam up. I find myself somewhere with nothing to say.

The people this never seems to happen with is my kids. We have had conversations since they were just babies. I remember sitting in a cafe in downtown Charleston, an under-one Sadie in a high chair across from me, and the business crowd staring at the crazy lady talking to the baby. "What should we do today? Do you want to go to Waterfront Park?" Pause "That does sound fun, huh. We could look for squirrels and dolphins. And then after we could walk through the market. Would you like that?" Pause "Me too."

When Maisy was in the hospital I would talk to her in her hospital bed. I would tell her stories and read to her. Although I missed Evan, Sadie, and Ella, I loved those quiet conversations in her little room in the PICU. I think those moments were what got both of us through.

Ella is my little buddy. Whenever I am running errands she wants to go along. We talk about her friends and school. About what she wants to be for Halloween or do for her birthday. We talk about her feelings and things that make her happy. She loves one-on-one attention.
Jack is a talker. Sometimes I am his translator. It looks somewhat like watching a dubbed over movie, because he is often talking over my translation. His words are getting better and better, but his verbal skills have not caught up with his vocabulary. Sometimes he will use a word and Evan and I will look at each other in awe. Where does he learn what that means and how to use it in a sentence? Its mind boggling.

I guess it is inevitable that my kids will spend their lives being moved in class for talking too much, people will comment that they are "talkers", Evan will be frustrated by the amount of time we spend at people's houses, and I will never lack a friend to visit with.