crack the code

There are a lot of words any family uses that have special meanings forged by shared experiences and old jokes. An outsider could feel like they are listening to a foreign language. "Basta! Do not make any more bubbles," translates into, "No more! Stop passing gas." Four pairs of eagle eyes are ready to chant, "Mommy rolled her eyes, Mommy rolled her eyes!" when someone utters a far-fetched statement or tells a really bad knock-knock joke. Now Charlie and Timmy have expanded the family linguistic repertoire with their own code. In 24 month old speak, "NO!" means no and "no" means yes. Danielle Bean posted about this very same phenomenon with her toddler.

"I'm a little kid," from soon-to-be 4 year old Charlie translates into, "I want a sippy cup, to be carried, I can't eat all the food on my plate," while, "I am a big kid," means "I want special privileges reserved for the older children such as a glass of juice, a trip somewhere in the car, or a later bedtime." All this means that I am constantly asking both boys for a translation, "Does your no mean no or yes? What is your status today Charlie?"

Charlie summed up his fluttering back and forth very well, "Right now I'm a little kid, but I need to eat a lot so I can get big and do lots of stuff."