What's the problem?

Kids say the darnest things and increasingly, it is getting to be true with Faith. These days, the little one picks up words and phrases very easily from her environment -- home, school, friends, TV programmes etc. Her conversations are usually a reflection of things she mostly picks up from us at home, in school or TV programmes. Sometimes, watching her speak is like a mirror effect. It makes us more mindful of the words/phrases we use in front of her. Other times, I don't have the vaguest clues where she picks things up from.

Like all things, there are always the good and the bad. Sometimes, whatever that she's saying seems beyond her age and astounds us. She would sometimes asks Louis when he returns home, "Daddy, how was your day at work?". A few weeks ago, when Louis was travelling quite often, she one day told him, "Daddy, you don't work so late. Come back and spend more time with us."

Louis, the ever dotting father, tells me that his little girl says things that melts his heart.

Most recently, she sometimes would ask me "What's the problem?". That's when my internal antenna starts to twirl and I'm strike by anxiety. Call us annal retentive, but Louis and I are particular about how she speaks and the phrases she uses.

Kids at this age are pretty innocent. They say what's on their mind. They have not much idea about the nuances of words and intonations or how simple words/phrases could mean so many things when spoken in different tones. Hence, we are zealous in reminding her like a broken recorder to keep using words like may I, could I, would I. And telling her not to start a sentence with Give-mes and I-wants.

Does it work? Not all the time, which is why I say we are constantly reminding her like a broken recorder.

Increasingly, I have to remind Louis or my mom and even myself to be mindful of what we say in front of her, no matter how innocent it may be. Most recently, I had to catch myself mid-sentence when I was so irritated by her whiny behaviour and actually raised my voice at her to ask her "What's your pr(oblem)...?". I had to swallow my words and rephrase it to "What is the matter with you?" instead :)

Thankfully, she's not using that much Singlish. For now. Some friends, who knew that I was anxious about it told me stop worrying. Its a matter of time that she picks it up in school sooner or later.

That may well be true, but nonetheless, hope springs eternal. Louis and I are still of the opinion that if we continue to be mindful in how we speak around and to her, the grammars and correct sentence structures would be instilled in her mind. She might lapsed into Singlish - as we tend to do and enjoy doing so - but at least, she knows to use proper English and to phrase her words politely in the right situations.