I’ve decided that trying to have conversations with my son is really like trying to have a conversation with a Magic 8 Ball (Oooo, find out the secrets of the Magic Eight Ball!). I always get one of six answers from him, and it seems to be 100 percent, completely random which response I’ll get. For instance, a questions as simple as, “Doodles, would you like to put on your jacket?” can elicit:
1) Yeah–Note, this has no bearing on what the question was and he shows surprise when I try to follow through with whatever action I asked about.
2) No–Usually this answer is dead on, accompanied by violent shaking of the head.
3) No Reply–This is accompanied by a willful turn of the head as my child ignores me to run across the room and become suddenly busy elsewhere.
4) Reply Hazy–This comes when I ask my child a question, he looks me straight in the eye and responds in some babble that I have yet to decode. It’s usually a very long explanation and at the end of it, he looks up at me expectantly and hopefully, waiting for my response to which I generally shrug and hand him some Goldfish.
5) Bish–No clue as to what this is. It’s said in great earnest, frequently and neither Adam nor I can interpret it.
6) Up!–Said when Doodles doesn’t give a hoot to what we asked but he wants yet another Barney book read.
Smarter than a monkey, almost. Smarter than a Magic 8 Ball? I long for the day!
