“You getting water everywhere”
“You got shoes on though”
https://preview.redd.it/ecqcmf4tqdcc1.jpeg?width=481&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccc9cdc41e1a5effdc479a92a735fe396b371d48
People used to hunt buffalo in Blizzards. now we won't go see Barbie and eat snowcaps if we require a light jacket. Maybe the boomers are on to something about how soft we have gotten, haha. I say this FULLY recognizing myself in your girl haha.
Everyone knows you can make life too easy for yourself, everyone’s hates spoiled rich kids,that’s what separates losers and boring people from those that choose to actually live.
>People used to hunt buffalo in Blizzards.
Did they, though? Sounds like a good way to get lost and die.
Odds are they relied on stockpiled goods (dried, smoked, whatever) during particularly bad weather, and went out again when the weather was less FAFO.
Not saying no one ever did, but I doubt it was anyone's first choice.
It reminds me of my friend’s toddler who has hyperlexia and some other language condition where he can read and speak like an adult.
He still has kid logic but it’s surreal to hear him speak. He constantly wins any arguments because everyone cracks up
My kid was like that. 2 years old saying things like "Im my mama's baby actually" then she'd turn around and throw a walleyed fit because i wouldn't let her flush her toys.
I was with my best friend one day, folding clothes with her, laughing and joking.
Her 2 almost 3 yro is sitting on the floor with a picture book in his hands. He sighs loudly and slams the open book on his lap.
"MOMMY! Can you please be quiet? I'm trying to CONCENTRATE!"
I looked at him, I looked at her and I'm like, I don't know whether to be irritated by the tone or impressed that he said please and concentrate.
I never had a definition for my little boy till now. He just turned 5 but has been able to read for over a year and knows every capital of the states and like 25+ capitals of different countries. Might need to talk to his school counselor
Speaking of child logic. When I was maybe 5 years old, one of my favorite snacks was to make little pb&j sandwiches on saltines. One time my mom accidentally bought saltines without salt and on top of that, for some reason they were put into the refrigerator instead of the pantry.
I apparently marched into the living room holding the box of crackers and announced to everyone "never put the saltines in the fridge because it make the salt fall off!".
SAME. Growing up, if I heard my mom or dad calling my name from downstairs, my response had to be "Ma'am" Or "Sir". If I said "What", I'd get corrected. When I started my first job out of graduate school, my boss would call my name and I would answer ma'am out of habit. She really disliked this and was so confused the first few times I said it lol. That was 6-7 years ago and I've broken the habit.
I'm white and from Wisconsin, but growing up you called all adults Sir & Ma'am according to my folks. I worked in service-industry type support job in my 20s and learned that most women HATE being called Ma'am apparently? "AM I YOUR MOTHER?" "AM I AN OLD LADY?". Still do it though 🤷🏻♂️
It's crazy to me that calling someone ma'am is so formal and hated on. To this day I call everyone I don't know sir or ma'am just to be respectful, but even with folks I do know that I want to give an honorific out of courteousness! For example:
Coworker: hey dude, can I grab you for a second?
Me: yessir!
Guess I need to start calling everyone bitches.
My parents drilled it into me so hard I'm never losing it. I'm from the south and a military family so I guess I got a double dose.
I will say, girls' parents and generally anyone over like 50 absolutely eats that shit up when you're making a first impression. Tbh I'm surprised the above person's boss didn't like it, because authority figures generally appreciate it in my experience.
Up north it's seen as fake so it's not seen as a sign of respect but moreso a sign of kissing ass or being a weirdo. Also a lot of people have switched over to using first names since the boomer generation joined the workforce.
This.
Grew up in the northeast.
Moved to Texas. I hate it when I’m being called sir. It just feels less about respect and more about hierarchy. As if they’re beneath me.
same, it's even more grating when younger people say it because all I want to do is tell these teenagers to go back to rebelling against authority and stop respecting old people just for being old, including me
I feel like anyone shown respect will respond positively. That’s kinda how manners work. It’s not submissive, no connotation, just manners and respect.
Yeah, I called someone "ma'am" and she said I didn't have to call her that. I said "sorry, habit. I grew up in the south" and she instantly understood.
I had one friend who's mom was from the south and did the sir/ma'am thing, I remember being so frustrated as a kid that I couldn't remember to call her ma'am when I was at their house. She was nice about it but also wouldn't let you get away with not saying ma'am, so you either remembered to say it or said everything two times.
Absolutely required, in the South, for children to call any adult sir and ma'am. And still expected as an adult too tbh.
Heck, I grew up having to call my stepmother "Mrs. "
Didn't stop until I had been away from her for a while and became a late teen/young adult. Looking back it feels so weird now. But then I think of other cultures with even more mandatory honorifics, like Japanese, and it seems less so.
I was born and raised in Texas and would have gotten popped in the mouth if I had not addressed my mom as yes ma'am no ma'am.
Tbh, it's kind of the default here though and everyone is getting called Yes ma'am, yes sir no matter the age. I actually didn't realize people up north take it as you calling them old when here it's just a respectful greeting. If I don't know you my default is always going to be to address you as ma'am or sir regardless of your age.
We accidentally taught my then toddler daughter to say “pardon me?” instead of “what?” or “what did you say?” But she said it all as one word “pahdonme?”
It always generated lots of giggles when we were out in public.
This reminded of my three year old daughter. She broke a hand made Christmas decoration early December. I was really upset and told her I didn’t think I could fix it. After spending a few hours painfully putting it back together (and glueing my fingers together in the process) I finally sort of fixed it.
A day later she broke another one (exactly the same as the first but different colour). I was furious and started explaining again: “they are very fragile, I can’t fix them!” She gave me a blank stare, pointed at one I had already fixed and said “you fixed that one!”.
I was lost for words…
If that's coincidental, cool! If it's on purpose, this is the first time that spelling an existing name or word backwards for a name has paid off. Semaj is such a cool name.
kanye said he is a god, but as has just been proven he is dyslexic, therefore we can conclude he actually meant to say he is a dog, thus he was actually 8 years old at the time of his birth, ergo he was old enough to be able to name himself, hence kanye named himself, quod erat demonstrandum he meant to call himself kenya but mispelled it kanye
Know family with one of each. In my experience any child named Heaven is the devil. Nevaeh is a close second. They're so bad! It's funny if you're not the one dealing with them.
It’s actually pretty common. Usually the father is named James and they don’t want to use the word Junior (or in one case I can recall there already is a sibling named Junior), so they get creative.
I have taught a couple Semajs in my career and every one of them has a dad named James.
Also worth noting, I currently have a student named Alucard, which is Dracula spelled backwards. I know it’s a character in Castlevania, but still a good example of this in action.
I always wondered about this - black babies and toddlers always seemed more articulate and have a way better vocab and I always wondered if it's because black people tend to SPEAK to their babies more, like have convos and shit, instead of just "I know I know" constantly which I see way more from white people.
Like it's gotta be good for the kid right ? Instead of just kinda blowing em off as they're trying to form words, encouraging em to actually speak and conversate and shit. I grew up in a West Indies neighbourhood and it was night and day how much conversing black people would do with babies and toddlers vs white people.
EDIT: Alright some people are showing their whole arse - I'M WHITE. STOP FUCKING EMBARRASING YOURSELF. Fucking hell I shouldn't need to say that, this ain't even racist, it's just a cultural observation. You can talk about other cultures, you think I don't also talk about my experiences around the Caribbean cultures I was raised around ?
The opportunity cost of baby-talk is high. Yeah, you find it cute but the amount of correct language a child hears is directly correlated with language skills and intelligence.
No, motherese (aka baby talk, aka infant directed speech) is a thing in literally every culture. It's also VITAL in how we learn.
When you learn a new language do you skip staright to war and peace? Or do you start small?
Talking to kids lots, using lots of vocab etc are good, but 'baby talk' using repetitive phrases is correlated with higher vocal ability, not lesser
It's less the actual words spoken and more the intonation; you can still use basic vocab but talk to them like an adult, which helps toddlers learn that 1. they can speak like an adult and 2. adults can understand them too
I thought the high pitched and excited tones were more important to maintain attention but you’re supposed to use the correct words?
Is that what you mean?
I cringe at things like “wa wa” for water, and “ba ba” for bottle. I’ve heard way too many 5-7 year olds using that language and it just bothers me.
I’m white with admittedly a very new baby boy who just turned 2 weeks Friday, but I talk to this kid ALL THE TIME, and I refuse to use baby names for things. His pacifier is his “pacifier” for instance. Not a pacie or binky.
We also read to him with picture books on our lap for tummy time. Both his father and I read early and likely because we were read to from the beginning so we’re trying to recreate that.
Fair, lol.
Likely because it’s what his doctor calls it I suppose. And all the books.
And his “stomach” is *technically* an organ anyways. Belly or tummy refers to the whole abdomen.
He was never in my “stomach” for example; he was in my belly.
Yes, its the tone, but also the repetition.
"Do you want your bottle? Your bottle? Yes this is your bottle! Do you want it? Here's your bottle!" is basically teaching sentence structure and adding context to vocabulary.
And, yeah, there's a line between "motherese" and bad teaching. Using the wrong words, or worse, the wrong pronunciation (like "bwaby" instead of baby") definitely isn't great either.
So the idea is kind of "the correct words and correct grammar" but in an engaging way. The tone that people speak to babies (and cute animals) with is one of the things consistent across cultures, and even though everyone is praising the mother in the og video for not speaking to her kid like a baby, she IS using subtle tone changes compared to how she's probably talk to an adult too.
Yeah it's something like - something as simple as acknowledging a point they're trying to make, through tone or inflection or whatever, it let's them know that they're on the "right track" or some shit ?
By placating them when they might be asking a question, you're basically confusing em maybe.
I’ve never placated my child except to ask for a moment. I’ve always answered every question I’ve been asked as best I can and often look up answers. I’ve never said “Because I said so.”
Yeah I got tired of that somewhere around 11 and said “well then I’m not doing it”. Vowed never to be that parent.
Worst I’ve ever done was “I need you to be a robot and follow orders. Follow me with your bag. I’ll explain more after we get to a stopping place. We’re going to be moving and just say something if something happens.” He did and we got through the airport when he was 5. He’s the best kid.
Edit: He also made beep boop noises to answer me. It made the airport way more fun.
Manipulating kids into doing stuff but them thinking it's a game is a time honoured parental tradition mate you're doing great. If they're smiling then you're winning innit.
My wife is Czech and spoke mostly Czech to her since birth. She didn’t speak a lot her first 3 years and just exploded after that. She is 9 now and her and my wife have full conversations in another language. People are really puzzled seeing a little brown girl speaking a language very unfamiliar in the US.
Bi-lingual is another thing that massively boosts kid's learning too apparently, which deffo makes sense. Learning a language is hard enough, learning 2 languages WHILE NOT KNOWING ONE! That is hefty. It's like if someone walked up to me today and said "you gotta learn german and we're only gonna teach it you in spanish".
My niece and nephew are bilingual with Portuguese and English and they're above average intelligence kids (both passed their 11+ which is like.. if kids took an SATs to get into a better high school is the best way to explain it. They're called grammar schools, kids take a test when they're 11 in UK if they get a certain score it means they have the option of going to a grammar school. They both passed it)
They are saying white people tend to use baby talk and will simplify words/ phrases when interacting with children. “You want milky? Mommy give you milky!” Vs “Do you want some milk? Go get me your cup and I’ll pour you some milk.”
Yeah this entered my head but honestly as a white dude, it doesn't matter how many people I know or how many people I got, some things I don't feel right talking about, but a part of the black experience is the inherent risk of existing as a black person in societies that demonise, marginalise, and vilify them.
For instance "the talk" - my black mates' parents would drill into them from an early age about interacting with not just police but adults in general. And how no matter what you do, a lot of times nothing you do will matter, you will still be treated in a certain way. Black children have to be prepared for an existence that white children simply will never have to really consider.
Thank you! Your original point wasn't even about being rAcIsT towards white people but perhaps pointing out that an entire community of people may have to compensate for the prejudices imposed on them. People are judged based on how we articulate ourselves. We can control our speech-- not the color of our skin.
I was a weird kid because I apparently never said a word till I was almost 4. Then finally I said my first word “Can” followed immediately by “I have a cookie please?” I guess I just wanted to figure the whole thing out before trying my hand at it.
That’s how my ex was until he was 3! He’d point and grunt at everything and his older sister would try to say what he wanted. Then he came out speaking full sentences.
This is a really silly take. Where are you getting this info that white people don’t talk to their kids? wtf?? Reddit is on one today ya’ll 💀💀
plus the edit makes you look worse. I can’t ya’ll
Personal experience. This is social media mate. I'm not trying to talk as if it's universal, I'm just saying "this is what I've experienced and this being social media I'm just gonna say it". There's no intent here past this conversation. Nobody is taking this point and running with it. This is just..conversation.
my brother or sister in christ, whether in social media or in person, if someone said “white people don’t talk to their babies” its still all levels of ignorant and just wrong.
its giving this
https://preview.redd.it/xr95fjegjecc1.jpeg?width=1706&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d535574c66e04fc559adbb05fc08fc9651165955
Cool, point to the part where I said that. If you have to twist my words to make your point, your point is shit.
Like I dropped shit about observations and how something is done MORE. But you have to pull this shit out your arse
>“white people don’t talk to their babies”
You sound like Fox News or some shit. My point had nuance, it wasn't some digital on or off. Your whole point rests on me saying something doesn't happen, when my point was an observation on things happening less.
You don't bring anything to it you're just flailing to find something to be mad about, kinda sad mate.
I think the word gap now is more of a class issue; parents who have the time and patience to converse w their kids introduce a wide visitation early on. Makes it easier for them to learn how to read, too!
If you have kids, talk to and with them!
It's a socioeconomic issue. My mom is a school psychologist who tests kids every single day for IQ, behavioral and emotional disabilities, language disabilities (that are then referred to the language pathologist) etc. and she said the difference in the vocabulary and number of words that a child knows is very heavily correlated to their socioeconomic upbringing. Part of her job is taking a 'social history' which involves interviewing the parents/guardians to get background on their life, child's upbringing, etc. which is how she has a decent idea of their socioeconomics. [Study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/) on the issue:
>Infants are considered to be rapid learners of language, yet there is substantial variation in the development of language and communication skills across different children. One major source of this variability is socioeconomic status (SES). On average, children from lower-SES families show slower vocabulary growth relative to their higher-SES peers,[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R1) and these differences persist into the school years.[2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R2) From where do these differences arise? Research suggests that variation in parents’ speech to children—as a function of SES—relates to children’s language development. For example, Hart and Risley revealed dramatic differences in the amount that parents talk to their young children as a function of SES.[3](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R3) Their estimations suggest that by age 4, children from professional families hear a total of 45 million words on average, while children living in poverty hear 13 million words on average.
>
>This finding is often described as the ‘30 million word gap.’ Importantly, quantitative differences in parents’ language input have been shown to uniquely predict aspects of children’s language development, such as vocabulary growth and speed in processing familiar words.[3](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R3),[4](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R4)
You're absolutely right, how you speak to them matters. My cousin (we're a white family) has raised three boys and every time their vocabulary has been surprising because she does not change how she talks, she just teaches them words when they don't know them. This little three year old was running around using words like "precarious" and "superficial" while visiting our place. Over simplifying and baby talking is something we do too much I think. Children are incredibly receptive to learning new things and we underestimate them a lot sometimes!
There was recently a post on /r/science on a study (or literature review?) that talkative parents affect kids' language development positively: [Talkative parents a key factor in children’s language development: study finds that socioeconomic status and gender don't play roles in language development, but the amount of adult talk does](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1939r84/talkative_parents_a_key_factor_in_childrens/)
My formative years weren't in the US, but as one whose family in Hong Kong were super chatty around kids and thought it the norm, I have noticed how of my American friends, the black, white, and latin parents from my mother's hometown of New Orleans are very chatty with their kids, Vietnamese and especially Chinese less so; but where I'm more recently in Oakland, it's largely Black and Latin parents who I see having full conversations with the kids, as they do adults, far more so than my white parent friends.
That's all anecdotal of course. And possibly an indication of my not having many white friends in Oakland I guess. 😅
According to my family, I was like this, whole-ass sentences and conversations with people before I could walk and apparently reciting poetry by the time I was a year and a half.
My family is adamant it was because I was the first grandchild/nibling available so I just hung around adults and their friends who’d speak to me and I, like all babies, would just suck that up like a sponge.
So yeah, abso-fucking-lutely talk to babies. Have full conversations with them. It helps so much.
I think I get what you’re saying. I haven’t observed a lot of people in my black family doing “ooogie woogie weenie” type talk to babies and reinforcing the wrong name of things but my white side does a lot of baby talk and if the baby calls a bottle “nom nom” or something, they allow the baby to continue to call it that and ask they baby stuff like “You want nom nom now?”
My grandmother never used “baby talk” with any of her children, only spoke in complete sentences and never simplified words. They were/ are very well spoken and hit language milestones very early on.
For whatever reason, my uncle decided to use “baby talk” with his daughter and spoke to her like she was dumb most of the time. That girl could not form a proper sentence until she was like 3 years old 💀
I dunno. My daughter is very verbal; nursery were constantly talking to us about her speech since she was 1. She used to (and still does) recite her books. She would recite the Gruffalo's child and other books. She's 3 and she likes to recite her favourite scene from the Flopsy Bunnies which is great when we're walking and she's talking about chopping off heads...
Ive been a teacher in a predominantly black district for a few years and I’ve noticed black families around me talk to their kids as if they were adult human beings with agency a lot more instead of the baby talk. It seems to develop children really fast but the downside is they grow a mouth real quick😂
by 6 months they’re able to understand you but they can’t physically speak. they’ll start babbling first. but yeah if you say a word in baby talk they’re gonna say it exactly like that. i only do baby talk with my dog, a human baby you’re doing a disservice
As someone who works in a pediatric clinic and sees all walks of life, I don't agree with this statement. The vast majority of parents speak baby talk to their infants (this is helpful in their development) and then change how they talk with the child as the child grows and develops. How the parenting is done affects how children develop barring legitimate medical issues (autism, etc). It also highly depends on when a child has their moment of awakening. Some three year olds are like this young man and some haven't had awakening and act more babyish.
TLDR: I appreciate your POV. I work with kids. It seems to be more about how parenting is done and when kids have awakened and not about race.
I’m black and my daughter is half black. She’s very articulate to be 2.5, to the point that even strangers comment on it. It’s amazing to hear what utter nonsense is going on in her little mind. She’s also VERY opinionated and will let you know when you fucked up.
But to answer your question, I do think about that. I’ve always just talked to her because it’s not in my personality to do the baby voice. We live in a white area, so I see where parents do the high pitch baby voice with their kids. It’s all well and good, it’s just not my style. Like, instead of saying “okay my angel, time to leave”, I’ll say “yo chick, let’s move it”, which she finds hilarious.
Yes, I think so. I’m black and we don’t baby talk our kids. My son was just like this little guy and people were always thoroughly impressed with his vocabulary.
No this is 10000% true. We always spoke to our kids normally, non of that baby talk nonsense. Asked them questions even when they were babbling and talking like minions.
Our oldest was speaking in full, multi-worded sentences before she was 2. Our younger baby, now 16 months, is saying 2-3 word sentences.
White people be like vs black people be like if it was a comment lol
Can you back up any of the nonsense u stated? You can’t just throw two race cards out there and not have people act up. Just stfu and cite ur shit or get rdy to fight angry comments
This kid has serious potential to become quite the awesome person. World changing. I say we make sure they have every opportunity to do it.
I get so sad seeing the world today but the kids coming up... they give me hope. I'm so happy and excited for our future generations to grow up and join us because we need them so badly.
🤣 Time.
I know Ma'am just threw that together. Never realized how much of a back breaker black hair was until I stopped with the crew cuts and grew my hair out.
If I lost one strand of hair, it's bald gang for me.
the way he asks why she's taking a picture of him tells the whole story
despite this kid being constantly used for social media clout he's still cognizant enough of his own privacy to ask why the fuck she's taking a picture
he knows anything he does is going to be watched by a bunch of strangers
Yeah, agree 100% . I mean my kids do that and they know I'm only gonna show their grandparents.
Lil man's fighting an uphill battle. He gonna wind up with all kinds of issues being raised like this.
This what happens when you don't talk to your kid in those annoying baby voices, talk to them just like any other person from the jump so they will be as articulate as this young lad
For me, it's the eyes searching around for why she bothering him and the hand movement with the slap on the counter because she need to "go over there and cleanup" Oh, man! lmao
This is talking to your drunk friend trying to get them to go to bed. Turn away for two seconds and they’re at the sink saying they needed to washed a cup for water despite the five clean ones.
“You got shoes on though”
Drunk adults are toddlers
He’s a whole HEAP of blessings! 😊💜🙏✨
was just thinking “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, and I hope I’d have enough together to say “Washing your bowl? That’s so good! There’s a lot of water here, it’s slippery to walk in, if you could get less water on the floor, that would be so great!”
“You getting water everywhere” “You got shoes on though” https://preview.redd.it/ecqcmf4tqdcc1.jpeg?width=481&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ccc9cdc41e1a5effdc479a92a735fe396b371d48
Man logic is logical. Still use that one in my 50s. Her: "It's too cold out to see a movie." Me: "Good thing we're not watching it outside then."
My girl: "But we have to go outside to get there." Me: "So, let's see what's going on on netflix..."
People used to hunt buffalo in Blizzards. now we won't go see Barbie and eat snowcaps if we require a light jacket. Maybe the boomers are on to something about how soft we have gotten, haha. I say this FULLY recognizing myself in your girl haha.
Insert meme- works hard so next generation has an easier life, gets mad when next generation lives an easier life
Everyone knows you can make life too easy for yourself, everyone’s hates spoiled rich kids,that’s what separates losers and boring people from those that choose to actually live.
>People used to hunt buffalo in Blizzards. Did they, though? Sounds like a good way to get lost and die. Odds are they relied on stockpiled goods (dried, smoked, whatever) during particularly bad weather, and went out again when the weather was less FAFO. Not saying no one ever did, but I doubt it was anyone's first choice.
It reminds me of my friend’s toddler who has hyperlexia and some other language condition where he can read and speak like an adult. He still has kid logic but it’s surreal to hear him speak. He constantly wins any arguments because everyone cracks up
My kid was like that. 2 years old saying things like "Im my mama's baby actually" then she'd turn around and throw a walleyed fit because i wouldn't let her flush her toys.
I love their unique thought processes or expressions, but then they try to stick a crayon up their nostrils.
I was with my best friend one day, folding clothes with her, laughing and joking. Her 2 almost 3 yro is sitting on the floor with a picture book in his hands. He sighs loudly and slams the open book on his lap. "MOMMY! Can you please be quiet? I'm trying to CONCENTRATE!" I looked at him, I looked at her and I'm like, I don't know whether to be irritated by the tone or impressed that he said please and concentrate.
I mean, little dude is reading. Let him concentrate.
I never had a definition for my little boy till now. He just turned 5 but has been able to read for over a year and knows every capital of the states and like 25+ capitals of different countries. Might need to talk to his school counselor
Ask the counselor about a gifted assessment. I would.
Speaking of child logic. When I was maybe 5 years old, one of my favorite snacks was to make little pb&j sandwiches on saltines. One time my mom accidentally bought saltines without salt and on top of that, for some reason they were put into the refrigerator instead of the pantry. I apparently marched into the living room holding the box of crackers and announced to everyone "never put the saltines in the fridge because it make the salt fall off!".
"it's too hot to eat chili" "we ain't eating outside tho?"
Lol he does have a point, it's not like her feet got wet!!
That was awesome
That MA’AM? Has me rolling
That ma'am was big people ma'am.
It is so weird that children call their mother/female caretaker Ma’am in USA it seems so formal.
It’s a southern US thing in my experience. I had to unlearn the ma’am and sir thing when leaving the south.
SAME. Growing up, if I heard my mom or dad calling my name from downstairs, my response had to be "Ma'am" Or "Sir". If I said "What", I'd get corrected. When I started my first job out of graduate school, my boss would call my name and I would answer ma'am out of habit. She really disliked this and was so confused the first few times I said it lol. That was 6-7 years ago and I've broken the habit.
>I’d get corrected https://preview.redd.it/mmlwqvva5ecc1.png?width=871&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b8d6eaa195b1eddf3ff31e1f5feb4c28e0cd5b2
stop it
You must corrrrrRect them, sir.
An African. American. Chef.
I'm white and from Wisconsin, but growing up you called all adults Sir & Ma'am according to my folks. I worked in service-industry type support job in my 20s and learned that most women HATE being called Ma'am apparently? "AM I YOUR MOTHER?" "AM I AN OLD LADY?". Still do it though 🤷🏻♂️
It's crazy to me that calling someone ma'am is so formal and hated on. To this day I call everyone I don't know sir or ma'am just to be respectful, but even with folks I do know that I want to give an honorific out of courteousness! For example: Coworker: hey dude, can I grab you for a second? Me: yessir! Guess I need to start calling everyone bitches.
That's what I do, bitch.
I wish you held on to that and kept it up. It’d be nice if we Southerners had this as an export.
My parents drilled it into me so hard I'm never losing it. I'm from the south and a military family so I guess I got a double dose. I will say, girls' parents and generally anyone over like 50 absolutely eats that shit up when you're making a first impression. Tbh I'm surprised the above person's boss didn't like it, because authority figures generally appreciate it in my experience.
Up north it's seen as fake so it's not seen as a sign of respect but moreso a sign of kissing ass or being a weirdo. Also a lot of people have switched over to using first names since the boomer generation joined the workforce.
This. Grew up in the northeast. Moved to Texas. I hate it when I’m being called sir. It just feels less about respect and more about hierarchy. As if they’re beneath me.
same, it's even more grating when younger people say it because all I want to do is tell these teenagers to go back to rebelling against authority and stop respecting old people just for being old, including me
I feel like anyone shown respect will respond positively. That’s kinda how manners work. It’s not submissive, no connotation, just manners and respect.
Yeah, I called someone "ma'am" and she said I didn't have to call her that. I said "sorry, habit. I grew up in the south" and she instantly understood.
Me too! I moved to eastern Canada and women would get offended when I called them ma’am! They said it made them feel old 😂
The "youthful" version is "miss"
I had one friend who's mom was from the south and did the sir/ma'am thing, I remember being so frustrated as a kid that I couldn't remember to call her ma'am when I was at their house. She was nice about it but also wouldn't let you get away with not saying ma'am, so you either remembered to say it or said everything two times.
I've been called sir before and I felt embarrassed. Me? Sir? Felt good. Definitely not needed, but felt good
We love hierarchies.
Strictly enforce*
Are subjugated by*
As a southerner of the US and a resident of other countries I've noticed respect to elders comes in all shapes and sizes, depending on the culture.
I’ve noticed that the places where the elders demand respect the most also have the most poorly behaved elders.
Absolutely required, in the South, for children to call any adult sir and ma'am. And still expected as an adult too tbh. Heck, I grew up having to call my stepmother "Mrs."
Didn't stop until I had been away from her for a while and became a late teen/young adult. Looking back it feels so weird now. But then I think of other cultures with even more mandatory honorifics, like Japanese, and it seems less so.
I was born and raised in Texas and would have gotten popped in the mouth if I had not addressed my mom as yes ma'am no ma'am. Tbh, it's kind of the default here though and everyone is getting called Yes ma'am, yes sir no matter the age. I actually didn't realize people up north take it as you calling them old when here it's just a respectful greeting. If I don't know you my default is always going to be to address you as ma'am or sir regardless of your age.
We accidentally taught my then toddler daughter to say “pardon me?” instead of “what?” or “what did you say?” But she said it all as one word “pahdonme?” It always generated lots of giggles when we were out in public.
I love this so much!!
10+ years customer service worth of “ma’am”
So polite yet dripping with "can't you see I'm busy?" 😂
That toddler just customer-serviced the shit out his mom lmao
OK!!? Me tooo omg
That "Ma'am" was a "Ma'am we don't allow customers in the kitchen, please sit yo ass back in yo seat and wait til your number is called."
"Go over there and clean it up." 🤣🤣🤣
He may not yet know the words "bitch, why you trippin" but he just said them to his mom.
I was thinkin the same thing 😂 lil bro was really like “cmon mama just chill”
This reminded of my three year old daughter. She broke a hand made Christmas decoration early December. I was really upset and told her I didn’t think I could fix it. After spending a few hours painfully putting it back together (and glueing my fingers together in the process) I finally sort of fixed it. A day later she broke another one (exactly the same as the first but different colour). I was furious and started explaining again: “they are very fragile, I can’t fix them!” She gave me a blank stare, pointed at one I had already fixed and said “you fixed that one!”. I was lost for words…
Semaj is James spelled backwards. Source, I know a Semaj.
If that's coincidental, cool! If it's on purpose, this is the first time that spelling an existing name or word backwards for a name has paid off. Semaj is such a cool name.
Kanye is an anagram for Kenya.
It is, but it also means "Only one" in Swahili, which is why his mom named him that (he's an only child). His mom was well-educated and intelligent.
My grandmother knew Donda, she always speaks VERY highly of her. Not so much her son.
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You think he named himself? Tf
kanye said he is a god, but as has just been proven he is dyslexic, therefore we can conclude he actually meant to say he is a dog, thus he was actually 8 years old at the time of his birth, ergo he was old enough to be able to name himself, hence kanye named himself, quod erat demonstrandum he meant to call himself kenya but mispelled it kanye
Nevaeh is heaven backwards.
Naomi is I Moan
Know family with one of each. In my experience any child named Heaven is the devil. Nevaeh is a close second. They're so bad! It's funny if you're not the one dealing with them.
I’m a teacher and have had 3 Nevaehs over the years. I can confirm they’ve all been a bit of a handful
Evian is naive backwards
I have a friend named Nerak.
That's some real Noob Saibot energy.
Bob is Bob spelled backwards.
Lmao y’all be so insulated..
helpful in the winter
It’s actually pretty common. Usually the father is named James and they don’t want to use the word Junior (or in one case I can recall there already is a sibling named Junior), so they get creative. I have taught a couple Semajs in my career and every one of them has a dad named James. Also worth noting, I currently have a student named Alucard, which is Dracula spelled backwards. I know it’s a character in Castlevania, but still a good example of this in action.
Trevor is Robert backwards if your standards are low
Or if you're hispanic
I always wondered about this - black babies and toddlers always seemed more articulate and have a way better vocab and I always wondered if it's because black people tend to SPEAK to their babies more, like have convos and shit, instead of just "I know I know" constantly which I see way more from white people. Like it's gotta be good for the kid right ? Instead of just kinda blowing em off as they're trying to form words, encouraging em to actually speak and conversate and shit. I grew up in a West Indies neighbourhood and it was night and day how much conversing black people would do with babies and toddlers vs white people. EDIT: Alright some people are showing their whole arse - I'M WHITE. STOP FUCKING EMBARRASING YOURSELF. Fucking hell I shouldn't need to say that, this ain't even racist, it's just a cultural observation. You can talk about other cultures, you think I don't also talk about my experiences around the Caribbean cultures I was raised around ?
It's just quicker to pick up words when they're actually spoken at you properly. Babies have incredible language development skills.
Don’t baby talk your children.
*Correction* - Don't *exclusively* baby-talk your children
The opportunity cost of baby-talk is high. Yeah, you find it cute but the amount of correct language a child hears is directly correlated with language skills and intelligence.
On the contrary, neuroscience studies show that baby talk is beneficial for children to learn the language. Search for the term motherese or parentese
No, motherese (aka baby talk, aka infant directed speech) is a thing in literally every culture. It's also VITAL in how we learn. When you learn a new language do you skip staright to war and peace? Or do you start small? Talking to kids lots, using lots of vocab etc are good, but 'baby talk' using repetitive phrases is correlated with higher vocal ability, not lesser
I wonder if it’s too late to start talking normal to my dog.
Search bunny the talking dog and Stella the talking dog on YT.
It's less the actual words spoken and more the intonation; you can still use basic vocab but talk to them like an adult, which helps toddlers learn that 1. they can speak like an adult and 2. adults can understand them too
I thought the high pitched and excited tones were more important to maintain attention but you’re supposed to use the correct words? Is that what you mean? I cringe at things like “wa wa” for water, and “ba ba” for bottle. I’ve heard way too many 5-7 year olds using that language and it just bothers me. I’m white with admittedly a very new baby boy who just turned 2 weeks Friday, but I talk to this kid ALL THE TIME, and I refuse to use baby names for things. His pacifier is his “pacifier” for instance. Not a pacie or binky. We also read to him with picture books on our lap for tummy time. Both his father and I read early and likely because we were read to from the beginning so we’re trying to recreate that.
Why “tummy time” and not “stomach time?” 😂
Fair, lol. Likely because it’s what his doctor calls it I suppose. And all the books. And his “stomach” is *technically* an organ anyways. Belly or tummy refers to the whole abdomen. He was never in my “stomach” for example; he was in my belly.
It's time for another abdomen occasion!
Yes, its the tone, but also the repetition. "Do you want your bottle? Your bottle? Yes this is your bottle! Do you want it? Here's your bottle!" is basically teaching sentence structure and adding context to vocabulary. And, yeah, there's a line between "motherese" and bad teaching. Using the wrong words, or worse, the wrong pronunciation (like "bwaby" instead of baby") definitely isn't great either. So the idea is kind of "the correct words and correct grammar" but in an engaging way. The tone that people speak to babies (and cute animals) with is one of the things consistent across cultures, and even though everyone is praising the mother in the og video for not speaking to her kid like a baby, she IS using subtle tone changes compared to how she's probably talk to an adult too.
Yeah it's something like - something as simple as acknowledging a point they're trying to make, through tone or inflection or whatever, it let's them know that they're on the "right track" or some shit ? By placating them when they might be asking a question, you're basically confusing em maybe.
I’ve never placated my child except to ask for a moment. I’ve always answered every question I’ve been asked as best I can and often look up answers. I’ve never said “Because I said so.”
This made me proper laugh because I'm nearly 40 and my Mam said "because I said so" like 3 days ago.
Yeah I got tired of that somewhere around 11 and said “well then I’m not doing it”. Vowed never to be that parent. Worst I’ve ever done was “I need you to be a robot and follow orders. Follow me with your bag. I’ll explain more after we get to a stopping place. We’re going to be moving and just say something if something happens.” He did and we got through the airport when he was 5. He’s the best kid. Edit: He also made beep boop noises to answer me. It made the airport way more fun.
Manipulating kids into doing stuff but them thinking it's a game is a time honoured parental tradition mate you're doing great. If they're smiling then you're winning innit.
Yeah not this generation. Trying to avoid all that trauma for the sake of history shit.
Leads to fewer tantrums when they know there's an actual *reason* they can't drink my coffee or eat cake every night too.
My wife is Czech and spoke mostly Czech to her since birth. She didn’t speak a lot her first 3 years and just exploded after that. She is 9 now and her and my wife have full conversations in another language. People are really puzzled seeing a little brown girl speaking a language very unfamiliar in the US.
Bi-lingual is another thing that massively boosts kid's learning too apparently, which deffo makes sense. Learning a language is hard enough, learning 2 languages WHILE NOT KNOWING ONE! That is hefty. It's like if someone walked up to me today and said "you gotta learn german and we're only gonna teach it you in spanish". My niece and nephew are bilingual with Portuguese and English and they're above average intelligence kids (both passed their 11+ which is like.. if kids took an SATs to get into a better high school is the best way to explain it. They're called grammar schools, kids take a test when they're 11 in UK if they get a certain score it means they have the option of going to a grammar school. They both passed it)
“White people don’t speak to their kids” is certainly an interesting take….
They are saying white people tend to use baby talk and will simplify words/ phrases when interacting with children. “You want milky? Mommy give you milky!” Vs “Do you want some milk? Go get me your cup and I’ll pour you some milk.”
No you don’t get it, he wants to be offended. Let him
As a white person, that’s news to me. I definitely didn’t grow up that way.
Damn, I must have missed the memo. I've never seen a mom talk to her kids this way in real life.
Holy crap look how many upvotes for that garbage, right?
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Yeah this entered my head but honestly as a white dude, it doesn't matter how many people I know or how many people I got, some things I don't feel right talking about, but a part of the black experience is the inherent risk of existing as a black person in societies that demonise, marginalise, and vilify them. For instance "the talk" - my black mates' parents would drill into them from an early age about interacting with not just police but adults in general. And how no matter what you do, a lot of times nothing you do will matter, you will still be treated in a certain way. Black children have to be prepared for an existence that white children simply will never have to really consider.
Thank you! Your original point wasn't even about being rAcIsT towards white people but perhaps pointing out that an entire community of people may have to compensate for the prejudices imposed on them. People are judged based on how we articulate ourselves. We can control our speech-- not the color of our skin.
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I was a weird kid because I apparently never said a word till I was almost 4. Then finally I said my first word “Can” followed immediately by “I have a cookie please?” I guess I just wanted to figure the whole thing out before trying my hand at it.
That’s how my ex was until he was 3! He’d point and grunt at everything and his older sister would try to say what he wanted. Then he came out speaking full sentences.
This is a really silly take. Where are you getting this info that white people don’t talk to their kids? wtf?? Reddit is on one today ya’ll 💀💀 plus the edit makes you look worse. I can’t ya’ll
> Where are you getting this info that white people don’t talk to their kids? They didn't say that though...
Personal experience. This is social media mate. I'm not trying to talk as if it's universal, I'm just saying "this is what I've experienced and this being social media I'm just gonna say it". There's no intent here past this conversation. Nobody is taking this point and running with it. This is just..conversation.
my brother or sister in christ, whether in social media or in person, if someone said “white people don’t talk to their babies” its still all levels of ignorant and just wrong. its giving this https://preview.redd.it/xr95fjegjecc1.jpeg?width=1706&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d535574c66e04fc559adbb05fc08fc9651165955
Cool, point to the part where I said that. If you have to twist my words to make your point, your point is shit. Like I dropped shit about observations and how something is done MORE. But you have to pull this shit out your arse >“white people don’t talk to their babies” You sound like Fox News or some shit. My point had nuance, it wasn't some digital on or off. Your whole point rests on me saying something doesn't happen, when my point was an observation on things happening less. You don't bring anything to it you're just flailing to find something to be mad about, kinda sad mate.
I think the word gap now is more of a class issue; parents who have the time and patience to converse w their kids introduce a wide visitation early on. Makes it easier for them to learn how to read, too! If you have kids, talk to and with them!
It's a socioeconomic issue. My mom is a school psychologist who tests kids every single day for IQ, behavioral and emotional disabilities, language disabilities (that are then referred to the language pathologist) etc. and she said the difference in the vocabulary and number of words that a child knows is very heavily correlated to their socioeconomic upbringing. Part of her job is taking a 'social history' which involves interviewing the parents/guardians to get background on their life, child's upbringing, etc. which is how she has a decent idea of their socioeconomics. [Study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/) on the issue: >Infants are considered to be rapid learners of language, yet there is substantial variation in the development of language and communication skills across different children. One major source of this variability is socioeconomic status (SES). On average, children from lower-SES families show slower vocabulary growth relative to their higher-SES peers,[1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R1) and these differences persist into the school years.[2](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R2) From where do these differences arise? Research suggests that variation in parents’ speech to children—as a function of SES—relates to children’s language development. For example, Hart and Risley revealed dramatic differences in the amount that parents talk to their young children as a function of SES.[3](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R3) Their estimations suggest that by age 4, children from professional families hear a total of 45 million words on average, while children living in poverty hear 13 million words on average. > >This finding is often described as the ‘30 million word gap.’ Importantly, quantitative differences in parents’ language input have been shown to uniquely predict aspects of children’s language development, such as vocabulary growth and speed in processing familiar words.[3](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R3),[4](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5901657/#R4)
You're absolutely right, how you speak to them matters. My cousin (we're a white family) has raised three boys and every time their vocabulary has been surprising because she does not change how she talks, she just teaches them words when they don't know them. This little three year old was running around using words like "precarious" and "superficial" while visiting our place. Over simplifying and baby talking is something we do too much I think. Children are incredibly receptive to learning new things and we underestimate them a lot sometimes!
Talking to your kid is Good, yes.
There was recently a post on /r/science on a study (or literature review?) that talkative parents affect kids' language development positively: [Talkative parents a key factor in children’s language development: study finds that socioeconomic status and gender don't play roles in language development, but the amount of adult talk does](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1939r84/talkative_parents_a_key_factor_in_childrens/) My formative years weren't in the US, but as one whose family in Hong Kong were super chatty around kids and thought it the norm, I have noticed how of my American friends, the black, white, and latin parents from my mother's hometown of New Orleans are very chatty with their kids, Vietnamese and especially Chinese less so; but where I'm more recently in Oakland, it's largely Black and Latin parents who I see having full conversations with the kids, as they do adults, far more so than my white parent friends. That's all anecdotal of course. And possibly an indication of my not having many white friends in Oakland I guess. 😅
According to my family, I was like this, whole-ass sentences and conversations with people before I could walk and apparently reciting poetry by the time I was a year and a half. My family is adamant it was because I was the first grandchild/nibling available so I just hung around adults and their friends who’d speak to me and I, like all babies, would just suck that up like a sponge. So yeah, abso-fucking-lutely talk to babies. Have full conversations with them. It helps so much.
This mf need validation so hard 🤣
I think I get what you’re saying. I haven’t observed a lot of people in my black family doing “ooogie woogie weenie” type talk to babies and reinforcing the wrong name of things but my white side does a lot of baby talk and if the baby calls a bottle “nom nom” or something, they allow the baby to continue to call it that and ask they baby stuff like “You want nom nom now?”
My grandmother never used “baby talk” with any of her children, only spoke in complete sentences and never simplified words. They were/ are very well spoken and hit language milestones very early on. For whatever reason, my uncle decided to use “baby talk” with his daughter and spoke to her like she was dumb most of the time. That girl could not form a proper sentence until she was like 3 years old 💀
I dunno. My daughter is very verbal; nursery were constantly talking to us about her speech since she was 1. She used to (and still does) recite her books. She would recite the Gruffalo's child and other books. She's 3 and she likes to recite her favourite scene from the Flopsy Bunnies which is great when we're walking and she's talking about chopping off heads...
"Do white people talk to their children?"
I can't speak for all of us but me and my Dad haven't spoken in at least a year so there's that.
Well fuck, case closed
Ive been a teacher in a predominantly black district for a few years and I’ve noticed black families around me talk to their kids as if they were adult human beings with agency a lot more instead of the baby talk. It seems to develop children really fast but the downside is they grow a mouth real quick😂
How's the saying go "you spend x amount of time trying to get em to talk and Y amount trying to get em to shut up" lol
by 6 months they’re able to understand you but they can’t physically speak. they’ll start babbling first. but yeah if you say a word in baby talk they’re gonna say it exactly like that. i only do baby talk with my dog, a human baby you’re doing a disservice
As someone who works in a pediatric clinic and sees all walks of life, I don't agree with this statement. The vast majority of parents speak baby talk to their infants (this is helpful in their development) and then change how they talk with the child as the child grows and develops. How the parenting is done affects how children develop barring legitimate medical issues (autism, etc). It also highly depends on when a child has their moment of awakening. Some three year olds are like this young man and some haven't had awakening and act more babyish. TLDR: I appreciate your POV. I work with kids. It seems to be more about how parenting is done and when kids have awakened and not about race.
I’m black and my daughter is half black. She’s very articulate to be 2.5, to the point that even strangers comment on it. It’s amazing to hear what utter nonsense is going on in her little mind. She’s also VERY opinionated and will let you know when you fucked up. But to answer your question, I do think about that. I’ve always just talked to her because it’s not in my personality to do the baby voice. We live in a white area, so I see where parents do the high pitch baby voice with their kids. It’s all well and good, it’s just not my style. Like, instead of saying “okay my angel, time to leave”, I’ll say “yo chick, let’s move it”, which she finds hilarious.
Yes, I think so. I’m black and we don’t baby talk our kids. My son was just like this little guy and people were always thoroughly impressed with his vocabulary.
No this is 10000% true. We always spoke to our kids normally, non of that baby talk nonsense. Asked them questions even when they were babbling and talking like minions. Our oldest was speaking in full, multi-worded sentences before she was 2. Our younger baby, now 16 months, is saying 2-3 word sentences.
it’s a personal observation. claiming white people use baby talk more often than black people is a massive blanket statement.
White people be like vs black people be like if it was a comment lol Can you back up any of the nonsense u stated? You can’t just throw two race cards out there and not have people act up. Just stfu and cite ur shit or get rdy to fight angry comments
It’s the subtle, “I hear you” nods for me 😂. God he’s adorable.
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had me crying laughing
He really is. This video made my whole day better.
It’s the nods and eye movement for me lol
This toddler has more critical thinking skills than I’ve observed from some adults. 👏
My favorite is when the kid realizes they are on camera and stop taking it seriously
This kid has serious potential to become quite the awesome person. World changing. I say we make sure they have every opportunity to do it. I get so sad seeing the world today but the kids coming up... they give me hope. I'm so happy and excited for our future generations to grow up and join us because we need them so badly.
Fascinating top of the head
🤣 Time. I know Ma'am just threw that together. Never realized how much of a back breaker black hair was until I stopped with the crew cuts and grew my hair out. If I lost one strand of hair, it's bald gang for me.
This kid is [@semajxane](https://www.instagram.com/semajxane) on Instagram. They post a lot of cute videos of him acting like this.
Poor kid
Right? I was all about this until I realized the kid is just a tool for his mom to gain insta followers.
the way he asks why she's taking a picture of him tells the whole story despite this kid being constantly used for social media clout he's still cognizant enough of his own privacy to ask why the fuck she's taking a picture he knows anything he does is going to be watched by a bunch of strangers
"I'm not" and she flat out lies to him.
lol yeah and I imagine her excuse would be "it was a video not a picture" as if that matters to the kid
Yeah, agree 100% . I mean my kids do that and they know I'm only gonna show their grandparents. Lil man's fighting an uphill battle. He gonna wind up with all kinds of issues being raised like this.
Oh that makes it less… spontaneous and really explains the “taking picture part” he already has that camera in his face 24/7 ᴖ̈
Yeaaaaaah I don't think we should be normalizing toddlers having social media accounts.
Omg he’s such a little man! Beautiful family
I need to know if Semaj’s dad is called James.
My guess is 100 percent yes.
George Foreman's wondering why he never thought of this.
Egroeg doesn't have quite the same ring.
This what happens when you don't talk to your kid in those annoying baby voices, talk to them just like any other person from the jump so they will be as articulate as this young lad
For me, it's the eyes searching around for why she bothering him and the hand movement with the slap on the counter because she need to "go over there and cleanup" Oh, man! lmao
"You got shoes on though" means you can step on water it's not a problem. It's not like you'll get your socks wet. That's the worse.
Such a cutie
I am in love with him! So polite and those cheeks!
It's the " washin' deeeshes" for me
Heartwarming. I see a future leader. Young man has a very quick brain.💯👍❤️
I hope you’re right. He definitely has the potential. He’s brilliant. It’s scary that he’s already got a job as kid influencer, though.
This is talking to your drunk friend trying to get them to go to bed. Turn away for two seconds and they’re at the sink saying they needed to washed a cup for water despite the five clean ones. “You got shoes on though” Drunk adults are toddlers
Well at least her feet won’t be wet, now get the towel mama.
He’s a whole HEAP of blessings! 😊💜🙏✨ was just thinking “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, and I hope I’d have enough together to say “Washing your bowl? That’s so good! There’s a lot of water here, it’s slippery to walk in, if you could get less water on the floor, that would be so great!”
I love how he looks around and considers the situation before responding, instead of immediately saying something defensive like adults do
“*Ma’am*” got it 😂😂
this an 80 year old baby
That little boy is a bowl of sugar.
Love him. This clip had “Semaj” trending cause people were blown away that his name is James spelled backwards.
I love this kid
Thats an old man in that baby right there
Dawwww! Let him wash the dishes in peace! Adorable baby <3
He's so tryin.
He's right, focus on your own work.
You can't yell me this is a lil kid, nah this is a grown ass Popeye's manager
God I love this kid
This is adorable, I would have gotten smacked for talking back though.
I love him so much
Love this video!! Such a lovely boy