A little chat

She exhales and runs her fingers through her hair with exasperation as my son scampers off after another brief exchange. The current campaign is to reinforce every attempt at verbalizing. [translation = amongst other campaigns] At this stage, I do not correct as often as I will in the future. [translation = if all goes according to plan] For the moment we want those words to keep coming and the main method to ensure this is to ‘engage and exchange’ on each and every occasion that they make an attempt. [translation = interruptions are permitted regardless of what conversation you might be interrupting] I apologise to my pal who has yet to complete a sentence of her own. [translation = boys are winning the race of ‘how many words per half hour,’ although they have the advantage, because there are two of them and only one of her] I apologise for administering to them and ignoring her. [translation = she won’t come again]

“Oh I just don’t know how you do it?” she sighs. I double check? Synapses snap and I connect.
“I have no choice at the moment. I don’t do it to help them, I do it to save money!” [translation = Scottish genes]
“Oh don’t joke!”
“No seriously. What’s the point in paying a professional once a week if you don’t practice the rest of the week? [Translation = the other 112 waking hours] I am merely protecting my investment of hard cash, making sure that it grows. [translation = preferably compound interest]

“You’re such a dumbass sometimes!” [translation = twit] In the family room I hear the echo, ‘yur such a dumbass, ‘yur such a dumbass, ‘yur such a dumbass.”
“@#$&*! Did they just hear me?”
“Yes.” [translation = sort of. In this case it’s echolalia, when they repeat {like a tape recorder} what they have heard even though they were not listening and are often completely engaged in something else, like setting off a sound sensor or motion detector]
“Geez I’m sorry! How long is gonna take you to undo that one?” [translation = remove less desirable phrases from their repetoire]
“Don’t know, it may have just passed through, they don’t always stick.” [translation = some favourite phrases become stuck because they like them so much. They become little mantras that won’t be dislodged. Often then disappear for no apparent reason and are replaced by a newer more preferred phrase]

We both turn towards the family room to hear “@#$&*!,@#$&*!,@#$&*!” [translation = bloody hell!]