In one of his classic comedy sketches, Steve Martin talks about screwing up
your kids by teaching them to 'talk wrong.' He says (paraphrased from
memory), "...whenever you're around your kids, talk wrong. Then on their
first day of kindergarten, when they need to go to the bathroom, they'll
raise their hand: 'Teacher, may I go mambo in the banana patch?' Teacher
will be thinking, 'Get this kid a special test.'..."

So what, you may ask, does this have to do with anything? Well...

Because they are preemies, the boys have developmental assessments at
regular intervals to see if they are meeting their various milestones. At
their last one, when they were 14 months old, their motor skills were up to
par but their communication skills (both understanding and responding) were
lagging--they're at about the 10mo mark. Not a big worry, but the doctor
suggested playing games with them that involved hand signs to help them
associate words and concepts. One that we regularly play is a little song
that involves clapping, spinning the hands, and lifting the arms up and
down. Chris, in particular, likes this song and will clap and spin his
hands, but he will not respond to the words 'up' and 'down' by lifting and
lowering his hands.

So last night, Chris was walking around the living room with a cookie in his
hand, and Macula was following him hoping for a treat. I finally signalled
Macula into a down, using the hand signal we have trained her with--raising
my hand above my head. As soon as I did this and said down, Chris' arm went
up, in a perfect imitation of me giving the 'down' command.

I've taught my dog to 'down,' and at least one of my kids that 'down' is
'up.' :-}

*Now* what do I do?!?! ;-)

Marie
Owned and Operated by Macula, Chris & Alex