Reservoir

You have probably already figured out that Isaac loves words. He has some conversational weaknesses -- his pronunciation is questionable, his grammar is rudimentary, and his sentences are fragmented -- but they don't stop him from having a great time with language. I'm having a great time, too, because I love listening to him talk, but I also get a big kick out of teaching him new words. However, I fear that my enthusiasm for this pastime has blinded me to proper parenting manners.

To get to one of our recent playgroup gatherings, everyone drove along a winding road with a scenic view of a large reservoir. At playgroup, two of the mothers were discussing how their daughters, both about 22 months old, had noticed the reservoir and had tried to figure out what it was. One of the little girls said "ocean" when she saw the reservoir; her mother told her it was a lake. The other little girl said "water" when she saw it; her mother told her she was right. Both mothers agreed that they thought "reservoir" was too long and complicated of a word (and a concept) to teach their kids at this point.

Both "water" and "lake" are correct ways to describe a reservoir, of course, but they lack detail. So that's when I chimed in, saying that I tried not to simplify things for Isaac, because he was so eager to learn the right word for everything. I could tell immediately that my comment was unwelcome, so I tried to lighten the mood. I added, "After all, if he can tell the difference between a front loader, a bulldozer, and a backhoe, then he can tell the difference between a rose, a poppy, and a daffodil."

"We just say flower," said one of the other mothers.

Later, when I recounted this story to my brother, he said, "Oh, you're one of those mothers!"*

Ouch. I guess I'm a pedant, I gave unwelcome parenting advice, and I sounded boastful in the process. I hope my readers know that I don't go around unfavorably comparing every other toddler to Isaac. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, including Isaac. For instance, he may like words, but he didn't even notice the huge reservoir when we drove past it!

However, it is true that part of our parenting philosophy is to go ahead and talk to Isaac about stuff he doesn't yet understand -- that's how he'll figure it out. I take my inspiration from Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever, a book we read nearly every day, where the pages on "A Drive in the Country" include the following precise words for different forms of water: brook, waterfall, stream, pond, lake, river, bay, and ocean.

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*Even worse, not only am I "one of those mothers," I'm one who blogs about it afterwards! Please don't stop inviting me to playgroup!