Little ears are listening!

Cherry

By Rhiannonw

Tue, 12 Oct 2021
  • 1999 reads
15 comments
 

Words and gestures,
eyes’ expressions…
toddlers note, observe, record
every phrase and word,
quickly learning
meaning discerning
long before they can express
what they’ve stored, absorbed.
so –

parents speak in code,
or complex words quite long
or foreign tongue
to thwart
young misunderstanding,
hide knowledge of planned secret treats ahead
(the children unable to appreciate as yet how long til ‘when’)
or things beyond their youthful ken.
But watch –

so well-equipped to pick
up language new!
how quick
they are to grasp
what passes up above,
‘over their heads?’!

[IP: secrets]

Certificate U
Poem
Families
Children's
Humour
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

All those little phrases that adults use to communicate without tiny ears understanding. I wonder! If children are wiser today, what with the internet, they probably know more than we do, which is a bit sad.

But of course not the toddlers...I think sometimes it's better to be at that age, when you're not really aware.

Great descriptions with words and a good approach to the I P Rhiannon.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, Jenny.

'Wiser' means good understanding of knowledge and how to use it. Many youngsters have little foundation and guidance as to how to understand all that is thrown out at them from the internet, and too much to process and properly assess.

As for the young toddlers, it is amazing how much they garner by watching all that is going around them long before they can talk of it. It is wonderful but emphasises how much responsibility there is in preparing them to understand how to live and react, especially with the pressures of the internet awaiting them!

And of course, how to communicate as parents when the little ones are around! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Nicely done Rhiannon - I really had to watch my language when my sons were little!

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thanks, oh that's another aspect isn't it? Mum used to tell the story of my father giving vent while cutting himself shaving (just out of the army) and Mum telling him my sister was listening. He brushed it off, saying she wasn't really hearing, but a little later she repeated very carefully what he had said when something happened! He accepted the lesson! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thanks for the cherries. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

They hear every little bit! A friend took a small child in her car and someone cut in front of her, so my friend hooted - and this small child let loose a torrent of XXXrated insults at the other driver - it was just what they'd heard their parents say when driving!

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Red faces! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Rhiannon

I really liked this, and felt it made an important point.

Jean Day

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, Jean. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by airyfairy on

I always think it's fascinating how much children know without being formally told. I remember my mother saying to me, when I was an adult, 'Oh of course you wouldn't have known about so-and-so or such-and-such', and being horrified to learn that I and all the other children in the vicinity knew all about it, although even I couldn't tell her how we knew! 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Yes, their attention is so sharp isn't it and they are used to needing to learn so much language. I remember that my children were all quite slow to speak properly, waiting it seems until they could express a lot in sentences, but when they did they were talking about things that had happened before they were talking, and it was such a surprise! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I found your last comment so interesting,, Rhiannon. I had not thought of it, that they would remember things so long. As if words are like tools to match certain problems, and they have to wait till one is learned that will express particular experience?

 

 

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thanks, Di. It seemed as if they didn't want to try to try to talk about things until they could express themselves fully. I do notice with my 2 year-old grandchild now that she looks as if her thoughts are quite complex though her speech is actually little, but occasionally coming out in a few words linked. So the experience, the talk they're hearing about it, are stored somehow, but not yet expressed?! Many words are known, but getting used to verbalising them is slow with some, who want to say too much before they have worked out how to say a little maybe! Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Turlough on

I really enjoyed your poem Rhiannon. It hadn't crossed my mind that adults speaking in code in front of their kids was a form of keeping things secret. I remember it being a struggle with my kids, and then an even bigger struggle when they reached their teens and the tide was turned as they all seemed to be talking in code. I doubt if I'll ever get to grips with jargon of Gangsta Rap.

 laugh

Turlough

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

 Thanks! Yes, I hadn't thought about the teen talk that adults can't follow (and the consonants left out!). My mother would tend to talk to me in Welsh, which as my husband was English and we lived in England,  our children hadn't heard much. But a friend who lived in Wales and talked only Welsh to her child, found the days were numbered that she could 'say a secret' to her husband in English, especially as the child next door spoke English to her little girl. Both languages were soon understood! Rhiannon