Lost In Translation

Trying to decipher what a toddler is trying to verbally communicate can be a daunting and fruitless task. Not only are the sentences often confuzzled, but their minds are not well equipped yet to properly express the desires of their hearts. It can be frustrating to both parties! Today, while driving to the pet store, my two year old, Ella, was asking me a favor. “Mommy, can you open my eyes to the Lord?” It was so adorable, but unclear exactly what it was that she wanted. My mistake was trying to guess what she was asking for and give it to her. “Sure honey, let’s pray together,” I answered, pleasantly surprised by her desire for greater spirituality. “Noooooooooo!” Obviously her favor was not a prayer request. We went back and forth for several minutes, trying to figure out just what she wanted. Finally, my three year old said, “She wants you to play the song! ”

Suddenly, it became as clear as day, what Ella was trying to convey. She wanted me to play the kids praise music disk, with the song, “Open The Eyes Of My Heart, Lord.” Chuckling, I popped the disk into the van’s player and turned to apologize for the misunderstanding. Ella was sitting in her seat, arms crossed and brows deeply furrowed. “Next time, you should listen to me the first time!” I could help but to laugh at her mimicry of my all time favorite mommy-ism. I thanked my three year old for his interpretation and vowed to come up with a device that is able to translate toddler language, because I won’t always have a fellow toddler around to translate for me!