Sometimes I hate this. I'm not going to lie. My daughter has a hard time talking and gets frustrated when I have no clue what she's saying.
I give to you exhibit A: Lunch today.
After eating about eight chicken nuggets (Wal-Mart brand, and yeah, we're not only cheap we enjoy them) she brought me her bowl and grunted out a few short commands. I took this to mean she wanted something to drink because, in my absent-mindedness I had forgotten to give her a sippy-cup of milk like I normally do. Naturally, I poured some cold 1% into one of her cups.
You'd think I'd stabbed Elmo. She began to cry and push the cup away. This was frustrating me now, as much as it was her. I offered her juice. No dice. Offered her water and got a resounding "uh uh!" and more shrieks and weeps.
Finally, I realized she was still hungry, so I fixed her some fruit and animal crackers. She's now sitting on the couch happy as can be as if nothing just happened and she didn't just subject me to the torture of self-second-guessing and wondering if I'm about to do something that causes her demise.
I'm not sure when the speech therapy starts, but I hope its soon. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, because I try to work with her on words, enunciation, and just recognizing things, but its very trying to my patience when she doesn't seem interested at all.
Its not like she's a mute or anything. When I gave her the food she said, "Thank you," very clearly. I think she just struggles to express herself with what she's thinking. Whereas, "thank you" may just be an automated response she's learned to perform when she receives something.
I don't know. It just seems like there's a language barrier between me and my daughter and its frustrating.
Is this what having a teenager is like?
