Written by This morning our two-year old twins were playing nicely and interacting peacefully with one another when the following dialogue occurred.
First, just to quickly set the stage, Jacqueline was sitting on the couch playing with a couple of cars that she had recently picked up after Theodore set them down for a moment or two. She strategically distanced herself by climbing on the couch to play with the cars she had snagged. Somehow I think she knew that her brother would soon be looking for his favorite cars.
Theodore came over to the couch, showing off his familiar gait, a high-stepping, bouncy, trot of sorts, to get his cars. Upon arrival, and leaning on to the couch to reach for his cars, especially his Lightning McQueen model, Theodore was met with resistance. Jacqueline slid a little further back onto the couch to escape her brothers reach.
Theodore: (whiny, disgruntled voice, getting louder) “McQueen? McQueen! McQueen! McQueen!”
Jacqueline: (bold, assertive voice, with her left hand raised, giving the universal “stop” signal) “Be patient! Be patient!”
At this point I laughed out loud, which broke any tension the twins were clinging to. After they joined in my laughter, Jacqueline easily handed over the cars and moved on to something else. Theodore took his cars, rounded up several others (as many as he could hold), and retreated to a distant corner to enjoy some peace.
So, I guess that the twins may actually have an idea of what I mean when I ask them to please be patient. Or at least they know when to use the words, whether they understand the meaning or not.