Gardner had been slow to talk up until recently. I kept an eye on his speech development and it was considered slower than average. I wasn't too concerned because I knew that he was learning language, just not vocalizing it. That has recently changed and he is now a parrot. He repeats nearly everything he hears. He is still his thoughtful self and I love that about him.
Over the past few months I had occasionally shared my concerns with my dad, and of course, In typical "dad" fashion he had this gem to share.
--
There was a baby boy born to two loving parents. His parents talked to him all the time. They encourged him to speak, but he didn't seem interested. It appeared that he was a mute.
The boys' parents had his hearing checked and that appeared to be fine. Still, he never said a word. He went on like this through toddlerhood and into elementary school. He seemed to understand everything that was being said, but he never made a sound. His teachers were befuddled too. It didn't appear that anything could be done to get the boy to speak.
When the boy was about 12 years old his mother served him dinner, as she had so many times before. The family sat around the dinner table eating. The boy took one bite, looked at his mom and said, "The mashed potatoes are cold."
The mother and father looked at him an leaped up to hug him. It was a miracle, they couldn't believe that he was speaking!
"Why did you wait so long to speak?" his father asked him.
The boy answered her, "Everything was fine up until now."
--
This story made me chuckle and instantly melted my concerns away. I have embraced the idea that if Gardner doesn't have anything to say then everything must be fine... until the day he tells his daddy that the mashed potatoes are cold!
