My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

One thing motherhood has taught me: How to get my priorities straight.

All these years I’ve been trying to lose weight and minimize the size of my thighs.  But now that both girls love to plop down into my lap at the same time when I’m sitting on the floor, I wouldn’t mind a little more girth.  More thighs = more room for the girls to sit side-by-side.  As the girls get bigger and bigger, I’ll just get wider and wider!

(Motherhood has also taught me how to justify eating half a bag of tortilla chips in one sitting.  Now if only I could come up with a reason for being in my pajamas at two o’clock this afternoon…)

I’ve been “baa-ing” and “neigh-ing” and “gobble gobble-ing” myself silly in an attempt to teach the girls what animals say.  “Silly” being the operative word.  Have you ever stopped to think about where we come up with animal sounds?  Other than the sounds emanating from the animals themselves.  I mean, who decided that a cat says “Meow?”  My cat makes noises more similar to a child whining than anything else.  And does a pig really say “Oink”?  That word is much too cute for the snorting, grunting, belching sound I’ve heard come out of pigs.  As I’m teaching the girls how to make different animal sounds, I feel almost fraudulent, as if I’m purposely teaching them the wrong language.  It’s as if someone has come to me requesting my help prior to a trip to France, and I tell them to greet the Frenchmen with a hearty “hola.”  I can just imagine a dog looking quizzically at the girls and thinking, “Why do these kids keep “arf-ing” at me?” 

It’s not like we can even agree on the sounds that animals make.  For those of you with way too much time on your hands, you can check out this fascinating multilingual list of animal sounds.  There are some significant similarities.  For instance, most every culture agrees that a bee “buzzes.”  However, the Germans and Japanese must have much more finely-tuned insect ears than the rest of us, since they interpret the noise as a “summ summ” and “boon boon,” respectively.  I think the next time I get dive-bombed by a bee, instead of flailing and running around in circles, I’m going to have to try to remain calm and listen very very closely, just to educate myself for the purpose of passing on the proper pronunciation to my girls. 

In the meantime, though, I’ll still “buzz” my way past bee illustrations in our story books.  After all, we’re not really trying to teach our kids how to communicate with animals by learning what sounds they make.  Isn’t the real purpose of having kids parrot back the noises simply to demonstrate how cute the kids can be?  Because even if the girls never engage in a meaningful conversation with a rabbit, they’ll bring a smile to your face with their bunny imitations!

Here’s a video clip of our current progress on the animal front.  We’re far from mastering any particular sound, but we sure have fun trying.  Be forewarned: Don’t watch the film if you’re prone to dizziness, as my poor videographer skills coupled with the girls’ constant motion makes for a wild ride.

The girls have recently developed an intense love of music.  I’ll hear clapping in the backseat when we’re driving in the car, which is a not-too-patient request for a specific CD of children’s songs.  I believe that I’ll soon have to submit this CD to the CIA for use as an interrogation device, as repeated exposure to its contents has been known to reduce grown adults (namely, me) to blubbering blobs who are willing to do anything to make it stop (well, anything except listen to two toddlers whine on a long road trip, which is another form of torture altogether). 

Yesterday morning, I heard clapping near our portable music player and found Susie looking expectantly at me with her hands clasped in a petitioning posture.  I gamely turned on the music player and watched as the girls wriggled and swayed to the songs. 

This is the same music player that, not too long ago, was a source of fascination to the girls not because of its music, but because it simply was.  They were entranced by everything about it.

Can you believe that those pictures were taken only last December?  Little Susie was so…little!  And now, although the girls still love that music player, they require a more advanced level of entertainment.  They are hands-on learners, wanting to inspect every last inch of their subject. 

Susie (on right): “What does this button here do?”

Becky (on left): “Ta-da!!  We have created MUSIC!”

Becky (on left): “Please, please no pictures.  This is serious business.”

Susie (on right): “Here, Mom – you can take my picture.”

I think the girls may want to keep their day jobs as music player inspectors and not get their hearts set on careers as dancers.  They lack a certain agility and coordination, I’m afraid.  Becky’s backward moonwalk especially needs some work, as you can see.