Distinctions

As Michael's vocabulary grows, it is fun to see him confidently yell out names of things he knows.

We have several toy duckies around: in his room, in the tub, a stuffed animal duck, and a baby chair with ducks on it. I'm constantly hearing him proclaim, "Ducky!" As he looks at me for me to yell in confirmation, "That's right! Ducky!"

Today at the park, a black bird was his object of interest. He yelled insistently, "Ducky! Ducky!" Amused by his enthusiasm, but not wanting him to be in fourth grade and calling every winged creature "Ducky" I thought it best to make sure to get him started out right: "Actually, that's a birdie!"

He looked at me, pointed with one hand, and pulled me with another, and continued to scream triumphantly, "Ducky! Ducky!"

Knowing any explanation would be too much for him to understand, but still feeling like I should explain how things really are, I said, "That's a birdie! Duckies are yellow." I thought distinguishing by color would be the most age-appropriate approach.

However, as soon as I said it, I realized that this would not prove to be helpful later on. How many ducks actually are yellow? Not any duck I've seen in recent memory. Maybe baby ducks are yellow, but full-grown ducks? In my memory, they are either mottled brown, or the boy ducks are gray with a green head.

I began to realize what a monumental task learning is for a little kid! Keeping the names of things straight must get pretty confusing, when distinctions seem so clear to older kids and grown-ups, but seem so hard to pick up for the littles ones.


As Michael ate lunch, it happened again (no, I wasn't serving duck for lunch). A dog barked next door and Michael yelled what I thought sounded exactly like "Ducky!" He beamed with pride at how quickly he identified that creature. I was on the verge of saying, "That's not a ducky...that's a doggie!" Until I realized that "ducky" and "doggie" are virtually identical in sound. Maybe he thought, all the times I was saying "doggie" that I was applying the same term as what I use to describe a duck. Was he trying to figure out what makes those two things both the same word, but the black bird something altogether different?

Then, I considered that maybe he wasn't confusing the sound, but to a 15 month old, how you say "ducky" and how you say "doggie" are is the same to the ear of a grown-up.

Then, a profound respect grew for kids who, typically by their second birthday, get it. They will be able to look at a duck and call it a duck, and look at a black bird and not call it a duck. And similarly, look at a dog, and know it's a dog and nothing like a duck or a black bird. Amazing.