Kid Speak

I love the way kids get things garbled or mixed up when they're speaking. Gracie is almost two and she's says a lot of very interesting stuff! I'm not sure what most of it is but I hang on every word. Here are some of her words and their translation:

Mee, mee = Excuse me!

Tate tu = Thank you

Eeez = Please

Da bouche = garbage (I think this is one of my favorites!)

For banana she sticks her tongue out and moves it back and forth across her lips while making noise. (I love that one too but there is no way I could draw you a picture of it. You'd just have to see her do it. )

As they get a little older the things they say are much more sophisticated. Josh used to call vanilla yogurt "ballilla logurt" but not anymore.

*Sniff*

He just turned six in February and now he is quite the linguistic artist. He pronounces most things correctly these days but he still uses some amusing terms.

Just last night he was holding Snowy (his completely gray kitten) when he exclaimed; "Mom! I didn't know Snowy got so bumpy when he purrs!"

I love that kid. :)

A few weeks ago we went to Alfy's Pizza with a group of friends for an after church lunch. Josh had eaten his required piece of cheese pizza doused liberally with Parmesan and was now eyeballing the candy dispenser. All those colorful little balls of candy were too much for him and he began his quest for a quarter. He turned the full power of those big blue eyes on the adults present and the loose change began to flow!

Sadly, the M&M dispenser was jammed. Despite the Herculean effort of Mr. Miller to jar those candies loose Josh never did get his chocolate fix. At one point he turned to me (the Mommy who can fix everything, don't you know!) and asked if I could "get the pizza cooker guys to come get me a candy?"

If I had thought those pizza cooker guys could get him one I would have pulled one out of that kitchen by his ear!

Funny isn't it? They know what they want and they don't worry about the proper way to ask. Jon and I were talking last night about praying and how we all do it differently. Some people will use King James English and some will use flowery, extravagant terms. Others just pray simply. I love the story of the guy who had just become a Christian and was invited to join a group in prayer. The other members were praying with big religious sounding words but he simply said, "Hi God, in case you don't remember me, it's Bob. I talked to you last week and now I'm back..."

I used to worry about praying in front of others. I had been in a church where the Women's Ministry leader would go along after everyone who had prayed and correct everything they had said. You can imagine the impact that had!

It's taken some time but as I've gotten to know the Lord a little better I've realized that He's like any parent would be. He just loves it when we come and speak to Him. I don't have to use big fancy sounding words or try to impress Him.

I think it pleases Him more when I come to Him like Josh did to me; expecting that He will hear me and take action on my behalf.

I am so comforted by that because most of the time I sound more like Gracie than someone scholarly anyway. He is so amazing, so awe-inspiring that all I can manage is, "Tate-tu!"

And thankfully, that is enough.

"Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Mathew 18:2-4 NKJV