She talks, I understand...

I am happy to note that my eldest daughter of 2 years and 5 months is talking clearly already. Though she's way behind her Cousin Danna, I am glad that I get to understand what she meant through the words she is saying, little by little. Or by pointing to a thing that she wants to mean. It is through these small milestones that a parent could get any happier. I am happy that I can get already what she is trying to convey and not just making a sound or just cry because she is not understood. She can say her little sister's name but she cannot say yet her name, hehehe ... She can count from one to ten and can identify animals like cat, dog, lizard, fish, pig, mouse, lion, #Jolli-bee (Jabee) and even associate its sounds. Even the the giants, she is familiar of that and she's very afraid of that. When it rains, she will say, "rain go". If it rains hard with thunderstorms, she will say giants. Familiar of the movie #Jack the Giant Slayer? Well she got it from there. All these developments I see from my daughter made me think I have a long way to go and it is very important to talk to your child at this early stage because they digest easily the words they hear and later on they will follow.

Based on experience, when both parents are working, nannies are the ones left in the house with our kids. It is right that we give them instructions to talk and choose their words that is child friendly. In my case, with my previous yaya, it was not so much of a disadvantage that both of my helpers are siblings. It was more on they speak on their own dialect that we never understood. It was difficult for me to always remind them to speak in Visayan or Tagalog dialect only so that the kids won't be confused and they will understand us, their parents. But even if reminders were repeated, they stick to their own language because they were used to it. It is not that I don't like their native tongue. I respect that. But my kids are in their formation stage and their brain development is crucial at this times. Their language must be our language too. Later when they are able to establish their own language, it's okay to have multiple language/ dialects or mutli-lingual. That's brilliance! That's more like it.

To the mommies like me, even if we're out 8 to 12 hours a day, it is wise that as much as possible we spend quality time, talking, reading, watching and listening #child-friendly reading materials, videos and music to our children. We are still their number one teachers even if it means they are schooling already. We know what is good and best for our kids, so as much as possible let us spend quality time with them. And as parents, we also have to educate ourselves with current information suitable for our little ones now. Even if we grew up generations ago, we must keep on track with what's the latest but then keep the same old values and impart that to our children. #Filipino values and virtues are undying and worth keeping.