Before I became a parent, I was always impressed with all those moms and dads who understood the shit that came out of their kids’ mouths.

Like, their toddler would say, “zeemanekgmkzlkjgwoijg” and their parents would respond, “No we don’t have milk right now. But you can have water.”

It was like, “what? WHAT? how did you even understand that?”

And now, I get it.

I, as Ishu’s mother, think he’s a real eloquent little guy.

But, to the average person, he’s probs a little confusing to understand.

Even I – who can translate Ishu slang – have a tough time if I’m not watching him or seeing things in context. Because, sometimes, his words sound the same. “Chicago,” “potato,” and “piano” all sound very similar and you only know what he’s saying if you’re watching him or know where his brain is at in the moment.

His language grows week to week. So many new words he learns to say, so many new words he understands.

But, yesterday, it was like I was watching the file cabinet in his brain get scrambled a tiny bit.

He has learned that the Hindi word for “potato” is “aloo.”

He says, “aaa-ooooo, aaa-ooooo,” when I present him with a sweet potato.

We recently taught him to say “aa jao” (come) when he is trying to call someone to him.

“Mama, aa jao,” I tell him. When he’s trying to get me to come near him.

But all day long yesterday, he kept saying “Mama, aa-ooooo,” “Rosie, aa-oooooo,” “Dadi, aa-ooooo.”

So, if translated directly, instead of saying, “Mama, come,” he was saying, “Mama potato.”

Which is funny.

Because I know what he’s trying to say.

But, ALSO, if you think about it….

…Mama Potato feels very accurate these days too.

Maybe he’s smarter than we think and he knows EXACTLY what he’s saying.

Mama, you a potato. Okay?