The Toddling Adventures Of The Baby Whisperer

I’ve been volunteering with both special needs and neurotypical kids for years, which means any time I’m visiting family or friends and there are children that need to be taken care of, I’m naturally the one left in charge of them. That’s fine with me since I really do love kids and enjoy watching them.

It’s pretty common for children, especially kids with delayed speech development, to be taught some basic sign language to help them express simple concepts without words. I’ve been around kids taught to sign long enough that I’ve picked up all the standard signs through osmosis.

I’m at a pool party at a friend’s house. I’ve offered to keep an eye on one toddler so her mother can get into the pool. The girl is very communicative, babbling nonstop, and surprisingly good with her signs, given her age. At one point, she approaches me, babbling unintelligibly the entire time.

Me: “Did you want something?”

She signs for food.

Me: “You want to eat something?

She nods.

Me: “What did you want to eat?”

The girl takes my finger and pulls me along to where she has been sitting, and I see there is a can of toddler-bite-sized snacks sitting on the table near her. I pick them up and show them to her.

Me: “Is this what you wanted?”

She starts babbling more excitedly, reaching up toward the snack can in what is a clear “I want” gesture regardless of not being a proper sign. I quickly get confirmation from her mother that the girl is allowed to have more before returning to the girl.

Me: “Your mommy said you are allowed to have some. Do you know how to say, ‘Please’?

She signs, “Please.”

Me: “Oh, very good! I’d be happy to help such a nice girl.”

I pour some more snack bites on her plate.

Me: “Do you know how to say, ‘Thank you’?”

Surprisingly, considering how hard it is to teach “thank you” to such young kids, the girl manages a decent approximation of the gesture.

Me: “You’re welcome!”

As I return to my seat, I see one of my friends staring at me as if impressed.

Friend: “You can understand her? That just sounds like gibberish to me.”

I realize he thought I could understand the girl’s constant babbling. I consider telling him the truth but decide that would ruin the fun.

Me: “Yep, that’s me: the baby whisperer.”

For the rest of the day, he would occasionally ask me to “translate” the toddler’s babbling out of curiosity. Instead, I translated what she was probably thinking based on her body language and actions. He never caught on that I couldn’t magically understand babbling.