The language of children

Des and Amelia have a game that they play in the car that has something to do with whether or not a car in front of us turns at the same place that we do. Ray and I have tried to figure out the rules without asking them but we can't. Even when we do ask them we still can't figure it out.

The girl that we car pool with not only gets it but seems to have brought a few ideas of her own to the game. I know the game now officially starts when we pass a certain building on the way to school. I know that the best thing that can happen is called "World Series". I know that she totally gets the game and its rules and has understood it pretty much since we started driving together.

Adult conversations can be cryptic or mysterious to children. I see my kids trying to puzzle out what Ray and I are saying. Yet it still seems strange to me that I can't always understand what my kids are saying to each other. But now that I think about it, maybe they want it that way.

Hmm. It hurts to be shut out but I know I have to accept it. My mom had me when she was very young and she loved it(still does) when people would say "Oh you look like sisters" but she took it almost too literally and would overstep. I can remember feeling resentful and thinking that she needed to act her age or that I just wanted some space. So I'll keep driving and listening and piece things together as best I can. It's like taking a semester of spanish and then trying to watch telemundo. You know enough to know something is going on but not enough to decipher it.