We have a new game at our house. It is not a fun game, and we don’t play it because we want to, but we play it all the time. Actually, I should amend that statement. The parents don’t play it because they want to. Ruby loves to play this new game, and this is why we play it incessantly.
Instead of talking to us when she wants something, Ruby has decided that she would rather act out whatever she wants to have or do, charades style, with only humming and grunting allowed. And no matter how many times we say “Just tell us!” she will never say it out loud, because clearly that would be breaking some sort of kid rule.
She especially likes to play annoying charades with us whenever she wants something to eat. I have finally and successfully figured out the Ruby-charade-move for peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it has not been easy. Most of her moves involve wildly flailing her arms in the air and giggling and it is very hard to distinguish between “I want to eat a cracker” and “I want to go outside and ride my bike.”
The worst of it is when she is actually upset about something but will not say what it is. With tears in her eyes she will gyrate her arms maniacally in an attempt to tell me that Edward has bonked her on the head, and when I have no idea what she is trying to say she will get more and more upset until I finally guess exactly what Edward has bonked her with. “He hit you with a car? No? A block? No? His bear? JUST TELL ME! AAARRRGGGHHHH!”
As phases go, this one is particularly annoying, because it makes it very hard to communicate, so I hope it ends soon. On the other hand, if she keeps at it she might just get very very good at it and be the world charade champion someday, and what kind of parent would I be to dash those dreams? A normal, tired, and frustrated one, that’s what kind.