Kids-n-Keys #55
by Sandi Layne

Toddler Time!

Walk and Talk and….?

There is a “proverb” that states:  You spend the first two years teaching your child to walk and talk and the next sixteen teaching him to sit down and be quiet.”

With my firstborn, Cyclone, it didn’t take nearly so long to teach speech and mobility.  Cyclone was speaking in complete sentences shortly after his first birthday.  He was moving well even before that.  In fact, the first indicator of an illness today is when he’s quiet and still.  If he’s both, then there’s something wrong!

Scooter is a different child, of course.  He is active, to be sure.  Climbing, running, tackling, getting into cupboards and trying to get out of the windows.  Now, as a writer, I can keep an eye on him while maintaining story continuity in my head. Really.  Poor little guy is going to grow up thinking that all mothers talk to themselves. Lately, though, he’s been trying to talk.  Which is great and certainly not before time, but it adds a new dimension to my day.

The Toddler Miracle Diet

Please indulge me. I got this in an e-mail this week.  I believe attribution is to UC Berkeley, Early Childhood Education or something?  That's the last reference I find on the pages of addresses that precede it.  Here is a condensed version.

Two-year-olds are mostly a trim set of children. What do they eat to keep them that way?

I’m sure you get the idea, eh?  Well, that’s not quite how it is with Scooter, but sometimes, it’s pretty close. His current joy in life is to go into the pantry, calling, “Sha-sha?”  This, in Scooterese, means, “Cheetos!”  Well, wanting, of course, to encourage him in his speech, I oblige and give him a few Cheetos.  Like many toddlers, he appears to have a calorie-burning furnace.  It’s very much anti-Atkins, but I’m just happy the little guy is talking.

Back to my keyboard…

I rejoice that Scooter is growing and becoming such a fascinating individual.  God has richly blessed me in my children. They are incredible people.

However, this new push to explore and vocalize is coinciding with one of the busiest seasons of writing that I can remember having! Let me see.  I’ve had a terrific freelance challenge to meet for a multicultural magazine.  There’s also been the Irish novel, of course, in which I have finally written my favorite scene. Additionally, I’ve had a brand-new project that popped up.  The deadline for this new project, an anthology, is tomorrow, as I type this.

Wait, there’s more! I’ve also been working with Vacation Bible School stuff, since I was drafted – er, ah, asked – to be the local Associational Director this year.  I am a huge supporter of VBS, so this has been another joyful occupation in my life.

“Calgon, take me away!”

God is so good! I feel energized and excited and delirious (no comment, Cordelia, eh?) about what the Lord is doing in my life right now.  Each part of it is special and filled with wonder, when I take the time to stop, look, and listen.

However…

Taking the time to stop, look, and listen to my toddler can be a little nerve-wracking when I have a deadline for a short story hanging over my head like a bucket of cold water.  Taking the time to give deep thanks over my writing projects is tough to do when there’s a small person on my lap asking for “Sha-sha” or “Mmmmmuckky!” (milk), or asking to “Walk,” or go “Bah-bye.”

To each day, the Lord gives us duties and rewards, I believe.  Tomorrow, I’ll have new ones. Right now, it’s time to get more mmmmmukky.  That’s my reward!

Copyright 2004 Sandi Layne

Sandi Layne's new book, Garrison's Girl, is now in print. Sandi's homepage is:
www.sandilayne.com, and you can email Sandi at: sandilayne@sandilayne.com