What to do when your 20 month old twins are smarter than you

I never thought it would happen this soon.

I’ve suspected it for the last few months but it became apparent this past weekend.

My kids are smarter than me.

(You’re probably thinking, “Duh”! After all, they did outsmart me by locking me out of the house last week).   Look below for that post.

My kids began learning sign language in their daycare as soon as they started in January. Something, I’m guessing, that is probably done in a lot of daycares. After a few weeks, they started using the signs at home. I quickly realized I was ill equipped so I briefly brushed up on some of the more common signs like “More”, “All Done” and “Please”.

I delighted in the fact that I was being a good mom. A smart mom.

How smart am I that I can now communicate with my kids? I learned sign language (albeit 3 signs, by hey! It’s more than I knew last year)!

Saturday, I was putting the kids down for a nap and out of the blue, Kendall started saying “Daddy” and put her thumb to her forehead with her fingers extended. And then she said “Mommy” and put her thumb to her chin with her fingers extended. She did it several times and I thought to myself, “Are those the signs for mommy and daddy”?

After I left their room, I went straight to the computer and looked it up. Sure enough, she was signing!

And, I felt like an idiot. My 20 month old knows more than I do!

Kendall easily has 30 actual words in her vocabulary now. Those are the legible ones – I’m sure she has more that I just can’t understand. Christopher is not quite as linguistic (he’s more concerned with tackling the cat and jumping from the ottoman to the couch. Who has time for stupid words)?

(By the way, don’t you hate not understanding the “jibberish”? The kids will be talking to me and all I can do is shake my head and say, “Uh huh”. And, they look at me like they are thinking, “Look stupid. The question wasn’t a yes/no question. I require the answer to be in full essay form so I can gauge your comprehension”).

Then, I started to freak out a little. What if the kids have been talking to us the whole time and we’re too stupid to understand because we don’t know sign language?

What if she’s telling me she wants to be a doctor and I’m across the room eagerly waving back at her saying “Goodbye to you too”.

During the weekend, I also noticed that Kendall kept repeating what sounded like “Abbo”. I thought she already knew “apple” because she says that when she sees a picture of one. Is she saying “apple” and I’m misunderstanding?

What in the world is she saying?!

I asked the teacher when I picked them up Monday afternoon and she said, “Oh, she’s saying sapo. It’s Spanish for frog. I sing a song about sapo”.

Just like that, the teacher knew. And, I didn’t.

Stupid mommy. Now my kids know Spanish too?!

The 6 years of French that I took isn’t looking like a smart idea right about now.

I’ll be signing up for Toddler 101 in the fall so I can be as smart as my twins!