Things Parents Say

The other day we were playing in the back yard and Milo looked up when he heard a siren from an emergency vehicle. I looked at him and said "do you hear the siren, they are going to help someone" and Milo satisfied with my answer returned to his dirt pile. I'm not sure where that explanation came from. Surely, it is the most simple and kid-friendly version of all the reasons a siren can be heard. I had to set aside my belief system (the police force is not always right) to provide the scenario of events he needed to learn (emergency forces are there to help people).

Now that Milo is a more effective communicator, I find I am measuring my words more carefully. Chris and I have fallen into the habit of just talking - about our days, our friends, our families - when we are in the car together or on walks. Most of it is not interesting to Milo, but some of it is probably not best for him to hear either. I think this will have to come to an end soon because Milo is starting to soak in a lot more of what we're saying.

It's an interesting position to be in, paying more attention to how I view the world and being more aware of how I communicate that to a little person just figuring this place out. There are so many ideas and facts and lessons for him to learn, but at the same time I want to protect him from a lot of the not so nice things. So I'm learning to put a positive spin on the sounds we hear and the ideas I communicate to him, hopefully giving him a fair view of the world and how people relate to it.