Time and explanations of time seem to work differently for the very young. For Anthony (4), "yesterday" means any time in the past, whether he means half an hour ago or several months ago. As in, "I don't need to go potty. I went yesterday." (uhh...yeah, you need to go every day, Buddy.) Or, "Yesterday, we went trick-or-treating." (Probably not. Probably we only went on Halloween). Sometimes he doesn't even use words to indicate when in the past it happened, which is just as confusing, as in, "Daddy, we went to the fire station!" "You did? Really?" I have to translate, "Daddy, remember when we went to the fire station?" (It was at least 4 months ago when they were having an open house.)
The Power of Prepositions
When playing "bad guys," Anthony (age 4) will often say things like, "You're under arrest! You took money from the bank!"
When his brother Francis (age 2) plays, he says, "You're under arrest! You took money to the bank!" I bet you didn't know you could get in trouble for that!
Daddy says...
Francis has already realized at two years old that he can get away with doing things if he says that Daddy gave him permission. He often stretches it past credulity, though. He has said things like, "Daddy says I need ice cream," when Daddy is sitting right there or at breakfast time. Try a little harder, Francis!
Broken!
What does broken mean to Anthony and Francis? Two examples:
1. When Anthony's shirt comes unbuttoned, he says it's broken.
2. Recently, Francis was spinning around and around until he got dizzy. He then said the house was broken (since it clearly was moving beneath his feet).
Christmas Tree Dream
On Saturday night, my 4-year-old was crying in his sleep. He often talks in his sleep and sometimes it's possible to have conversations with him. He said, "Don't touch the Christmas tree!" which is something he and his brother have been told often this Christmas season. So, I replied the way he and his brother do, "I won't touch the Christmas tree anymore." We left it up for one more day. I guess it's about time for me to take it down, though.
Bunny Balls!
My mom got some stuffed white balls for my boys. They were marketed as and look like snowballs, perfect for a safe and dry indoor snowball fight. They immediately understood and had fun throwing them at each other, but the two-year-old called them bunny balls. Upon further reflection, I guess the balls look like a bunny tails (also, my mom presented them in Easter buckets). Sometimes things don't get interpreted the way you expect!
Snow!
It snowed last night. Francis (2 in 2 more days!) woke up and said, "Can't go outside because no shoes." He then brought me a slipper (not a pair; just one) that was too small and asked me to help him put it on. He wasn't wearing pants.
Making You Happy
Lately, when Francis is being scolded by someone (which happens - he climbs on everything), he has started diffusing the situation by saying, "I'm going to make you happy." He then points his finger and says something like "Boop, boop, boop." It's surprisingly effective.
The Passage of Time
Remember, authors of books for very young children, the concept of time takes a while to understand! Many times picture books take place over the course of just one day or show activities without any importance of the day or when they happened, but sometimes it might be fun to play with a toddler's understanding of time.
Anthony gets that there's an order to when we'll do things when we discuss the plan for the day (e.g., go to the library, then the store, cook dinner, then Daddy will come home and we'll eat, then we'll brush our teeth and go to bed), but for things he's looking forward to for longer than a day, it can get confusing. For about a week or two before our last trip to my parents house, he kept telling me we were going on an airplane and tried to fit it into the plan for the day, as in:
"Then we'll eat dinner and then we'll go on an airplane."
"No, buddy, not today."
"Okay. Tomorrow we'll go to the library and then go on an airplane."
"Not tomorrow either..."
There was a similar conversation leading up to our latest camping trip.
"Daddy will come home and then we'll have a campfire."
"Soon, but not today..."
One More - Poopcones!
Francis (the one-and-a-half-year-old) noticed pinecones for the first time this summer when we were picking up dog poop from our yard. He pointed to one and said, "Poop!" to tell me to pick it up. I explained that it wasn't poop. It was a pinecone. He eventually was convinced it wasn't poop, but continued to call it a "poopcone."