Talking is hot stuff around our house. That would seem obvious, but not perhaps for the reasons that you might first expect.
Talking
A primary method of social intercourse used to communicate an individuals needs, wants, interests and expectations.
Talking (Mr Alex)
An elaborate role playing game where voices are given to inanimate objects, usually stuffed toys, that then play out an adventure together.
About six months ago, Claire and I returned from an afternoon out to find a very happy Alex dancing around our living room. He greeted us as normal and then followed up with the request to “play talking”. This was new to us, and it appeared that Alex and the babysitter had created a whole new game that he was absolutely enthralled with.
For the next couple of days absolutely everything that Alex wanted to do revolved around “playing talking”. We really enjoyed it too, [for the first couple of play throughs] but Alex could not have too much of a good thing, and wanted to play for hours at a time. Any interruptions would be met with wails of disappointment and floods of tears. It was always worth starting a game with him thought to see him get all excited and get all of his toys arranged.
One of the big advantages of talking was that I discovered that if you asked him to do anything through the medium of his toys, he would do it instantly as part of the game. Food was finished, baths were jumped into, things were fetched or tidied. But he quickly rumbled that one.
Rules of talking
- The Toddler sets the scenario and retains editorial control of the story.
- The Play mate (usually a parent or other poor fool) has zero editorial input and should simply follow the Toddler’s lead.
- No moves should be made by the Play mate to finish things up prematurely. The Toddler is allowed to react violently, if this is indeed attempted.
- The Play mate must use a high pitched voice at all times. Any trace of a normal voice will not be tolerated.
- All games of talking must start and end in close proximity to the kitchen bin (!!!!).
Talking is still a popular game around these parts – but thankfully we currently play in smaller doses. Extra props have been included, and over the last week or so we have spent a lot of time flying (on our sofa!) looking for dragons. Happy times!
8 Comments
22/06/2009 at 16:05
“playing talking” — that’s precious
22/06/2009 at 18:43
I think you should introduce him to The Big Comfy Couch if you can find it. The main idea of the show is pretty much playing talking. My granddaughter loved this show at that age.
26/06/2009 at 05:55
Ah yes, the powerful medium of toys. I never realized how powerful I could feel after controlling a three year old with a stuffed Eyeore and depressing voice.
26/06/2009 at 12:36
I’ve managed to avoid this one so far…fingers crossed. We have enough “games” at the moment lol.
26/06/2009 at 15:00
That sounds like a fun game…I wonder if I could use it to get out of chores in our house…(Sorry hun, the trash says it doesn’t want to be taken out)…
26/06/2009 at 15:54
It amazes me with how short their attention spans are with some things, when they find something they truly enjoy they stick to it for ETERNITY!
I had to watch my son open and close a closet door for an hour while on vacation, and any attempts to get him to play with his toys were met with bloodcurdling screams!
26/06/2009 at 21:25
That’s funny. We haven’t gotten to talking yet, but we have clear rules about playing in our house. Our son plays with what he wants to play with for as long as he wants to play with it. Any deviation from this rule is met with a temper tantrum then a flood of tears until we relent or he finds something new.
27/06/2009 at 02:14
This is hilarious – probably for us especially since we have experiened ‘talking’ in reality! I loved the descriptions of ‘the boys’ & friends – very funny. Looking forward to enjoying it all again soon.
Dave & Aly