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My daughter started talking at a really early age. She was also blessed with great enunciation, so even at a very early age anytime she said anything most of the people around her understood exactly what she was saying. I always loved watching people’s shocked faces when she spoke so eloquently, and now as a preschooler she’s still quite eloquent and clever.

This was all great…until certain questions started up. I’ve always tried to answer any questions my daughter asks as best I can because I understand that’s how she learns. The first inappropriate question she hooked me up with was while we were standing in line at Target. My daughter eyed the lady working at the register, and then just as loudly and eloquently as she could, she asked me, “Mommy, why does that lady have a beard?”

Picture me wanting to slither away in embarrassment, yet wanting to remain composed so as not to stifle my daughter’s inquisitive nature.

Yes, the checkout lady had some dark hairs on her chin, so it wasn’t like my daughter was lying. I didn’t want my daughter to think that loudly pointing out different features in people was something we did, though. Luckily the checkout lady didn’t hear my daughter - or pretended not to - so I told my daughter we would talk about it later. When we got into the car we had a discussion about how some people are different, and that’s great because it’s how God made us, but some people may feel bad about their differences so it’s best not to point them out. I told her she was free to whisper questions about other people to me, or if she wanted to she could just save up her questions and ask me later.

She did pretty well with this, but had occasional slip-ups. Once she wondered aloud why a lady had such a big belly and then another time she started laughing hysterically at a teenage boy’s hair (well, okay, his hair was pretty silly), but for the most part she still does a good job of whispering questions to me instead of blurting things out. In fact, once in a while she’ll whisper to me something like, “Mommy, that person has a big belly, but that’s okay because God made us all different.” Not bad for a four year old.

Tags: early talking, embarrassment, verbal ability