You may not realize it, but as your daughter is moving through her childhood, she is developing her own language. During pre-adolescence, she will continue to perfect this language and by the time she has reached her adolescence, she will be nearly fluent in Teen Daughter English (TDE) and will be able to slip back and forth between it and your own common American Father English (AFE).
Although TDE has many different dialects, below I have translated a few basic phrases to aid you in future interactions with your daughter:
She means, "In an hour or so, I'm going to be asking you for something that will require your time, your money or both."
When she says, "I cleaned my room."
She means, "I shoved everything under the bed and into the closet as quickly as I could." (so that I can ask you for the above mentioned something).
When she asks, "Do you have any money?"
She's really saying, "Give me whatever money you have." (so I can have the above mentioned something).
When she says, "I love you."
She means, "I really do love you." (and I've chosen this specific moment to express my love in words because I want the above mentioned something).
When she says, "I'm hungry."
She means, "Go get me some McDonald's."
(or Wendy's)
(or Taco Bell)
(or Chipotle)
(etc.)
Also, please be aware that somewhere between the ages of 11- 14, your daughter will begin ending sentences with "uh". For example, "Daduh! You're ruining my lifeuh!" When this happens, and it WILL happen, don't try to reason with her; Instead, I recommend that you exercise one of the following two options:
The first option is to respond in kind by saying something like, "Oh, I'm soooo sorryuh! How could I let you downuh!" This is my typical response and can serve you well to silence said daughter. At the very least, she will grow tired of it and exit your presence with a final LOUD sigh of exasperation.
The second option is to slowly back away and exit the room as quickly as possible.
Although it's difficult to know which option should be applied in a specific situation, it will help if you are able to get a glimpse into her eyes. If you see even a spark of female fury, I strongly recommend the second option.
Oh, and one more thing, if you're doing something that she used to think was cute or funny, like singing a song or chasing her around and tickling her, she may say, "STOPUHHHH!" If this word issues forth from her lips at a greater than normal volume, for the love of all that it's holy and altruistic, cease the activity immediately and proceed with the second option. Trust me on this one. If you don't, you may end up in trouble with everyone, INCLUDING mom and you know that you don't want to be in that doghouse.
No comments:
Post a Comment