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Tic "Talk"

A friend stopped by the other day with her sons who are about the same age as our boys.  Our boys were on a weekend getaway with the grandparents - they hated every second of it.  Between the bonfires, rock collecting, cutting stuff down, side-by-side rides, BB guns, and trampoline you can see why they didn't want to come home.  Goals.  Anyway, back to my friend.  She brought her boys in the house while ours were gone, and the most incredible thing happened: they didn't say a word. They played with toys in silence the length of their visit!  I didn't know that was a thing!

In contrast, the carpet cleaners came to shampoo our carpet last month.  Our boys talked to them the entire time.  Carpet shampooers are NOT quiet machines.  Our boys are louder.  Mike from Stanley Steamer (shout out to Stanley Steamer for a great job) now knows everything Sawyer has ever done or wanted to do in his entire life. Mike got a $20 tip for graciously listening to and responding to an hour and a half worth of questions and five-year-old philosophizing.

Jerry the house inspector was met with similar fanfare.  He was less lucky than Mike because he was under the house doing his inspection while the boys shouted at him through the crawl hole.  He couldn't escape.  "Hey, why'd you go under there?" I heard Fischer shout.  "Haha, made you say 'underwear!'"  They were relentless.  I did nothing to stop it.  Maybe that's why our inspection didn't go as well as we had hoped...

Sawyer has always been a talker.  He could say "hi" at a little over a year old, and he said it with authority.  And he continued to say it over, and over, and over until he got a response.  That was the start, and he hasn't stopped for more than a breath since.  It's exhausting, but it's also entertaining.  Both boys are always trying out new words and phrases.  Sometimes they hit the mark...sometimes they miss.

Sawyer: "Emerson smells delightful!  Carter, not so much." - nailed it
Sawyer: "This book smells like Jayce.  It has his texture." - and a miss
(Also, I don't know why he is smelling everything lately.  It gets a little  weird.)

We try to encourage the talking (until we can't take it anymore) because we know there are some good skills associated with being a talker.  However, if you ever become one of their victims...err...sounding boards, feel free to interrupt and give them the "my ears need to rest" response at anytime.  Just like my parents did to me...maybe it does run in the family.......

Cheers, and in Sawyers words, when I ask him to do some quiet quiet-time, "talky, talky, talky!"


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