Identifying objects with people

[Adaline'sMama]

DD has been doing this for about a month now, and I can follow her all around the house while she does it and she will tell me who everything "belongs" to. For example, all the coffee cups are daddy's and and any time she sees a soda can it's mommys. It comes out as "dees daddys" "dees mommys" and "dees adda's". "dees" is "this" and Im sure it comes from when we dont want her to have something Ill say, "No, this is mamas." and Ill hand her something that belongs to her and say "This is Ada's" Her name is Ada, but she pronounces it "adda". DH thinks that this is something that children do because most languages have "male" and "female" words and sometimes she does idenify things not based on what she has seen either of us with. For example we went to the aisle in the grocery where there are sheets and blankets and she said "dees mommys", even though she sees us both sleep on sheets and pillows. Im not sure where that came from. Do your kids do this, and is there any logic behind it?

Also, I had to share my first toddler embarassing moment with ya'll:
Yesterday we were at the grocery store and she said very clearly while we were in the aisle that refrigerates all the beer "dees daddys" and pointed at the beer, saying it over and over again until I said that yes, daddy did have beer bottles too. There were a couple of ladies in the aisle that clearly knew that she was saying that her dad drinks beer

[newmamalizzy]

Nothin' wrong with drinking beer :)  At least it wasn't condoms or something, right? 

DD is 18 months old, and she constantly confuses me by saying "Daddy!" at random, and then I realize she's identifying something of daddy's, like his belt or his shoes.  She doesn't quite say "Mommy's shoes" yet, but will often say "Mommy...shoes!" or something like that.  She seems to identify leather (boots, belts) and plaid things with daddy, even if they're not really his.  My "thing" is coffee cups/mugs.  Does she see you making beds or folding sheets and stuff during the day?  Maybe that's why she identifies those things with you?

[mama.nesta]

My little one does the same and she is 16mon.  She walks around picking up things and saying 'mama' or 'baba'  (dad in my husband's language) ...she likes to show me my tooth brush and then her fathers.  She doesn't yet say her own name yet, though.  

P.S.  Don't be embarrassed I think all fathers are associated with beer!

[ThreeTwoFive]

We usually get sorted by color.  DS will point to yellow trucks for mommy, blue ones for daddy, green ones for him, or hand us each a pile of cards in a particular color.  No idea why.

[neonalee]

Originally Posted by ThreeTwoFive 

We usually get sorted by color.  DS will point to yellow trucks for mommy, blue ones for daddy, green ones for him, or hand us each a pile of cards in a particular color.  No idea why.

That triggers something in my memory... I'm not sure if I read it here, elsewhere, or maybe heard it on NPR. It was about how some people see words (or maybe things? I just can't remember) as different colours or sounds. It was really interesting. If I remember enough to make sense I'll post about it though.

sent from my phone using tapatalk, please excuse typos.

[Kelly1101]

Em went through a phase of doing this.  I think it's just starting to understand the concept of ownership, among other things (my favorite is that for months, whenever we got into the car, she would point out "Emma's chair" "Ozzy's chair" "Mama's chair" then look around and say "Daddy at work").

And don't worry about the beer thing, LMAO.  If I'm looking in the fridge and she comes up and starts pointing things out, she'll point at beer and say "Daddy's drink", has pointed out wine as "Mama's juice".  (And coffee creamer is Daddy's Milk, lmao)

[Anna Phor]

Oh, my son is crazy with the ownership thing. I can't sort laundry, because he *insists* that the items belonging to daddy be returned to daddy *right now*. So poor daddy will be cooking dinner, and will be handed a selection of boxer shorts and socks right there in the kitchen.

I hadn't figured it for sorting behavior, but yes, of course it is--and I've read that's a pretty useful thing for language acquisition; sorting things into kinds of things. 

[coldandsleepy]

My son (just over 2) is crazy about identifying the ownership of objects and has been for a few months.  (He's rarely incorrect either, though occasionally he will say things are his when they aren't.  Wishful thinking.  :P)  If he doesn't know whose something is, he is desperate to know.  We do a lot of talking about "these toys belong to the library, so everyone can play with them" and "sticks in the park belong to everyone" etc for things that don't belong to a specific person.

I know some parents who stress about it majorly, but it doesn't bother me.  Just another big life concept they're picking up and exploring.

[Kelly1101]

For me it's way better than the "MIIIIINE.  MIIIIINE.   MIIIIIIINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  that it seems the vast majority of toddlers go through.  I'm thanking my lucky stars that somehow we escaped that phase.
 

Originally Posted by coldandsleepy 

My son (just over 2) is crazy about identifying the ownership of objects and has been for a few months.  (He's rarely incorrect either, though occasionally he will say things are his when they aren't.  Wishful thinking.  :P)  If he doesn't know whose something is, he is desperate to know.  We do a lot of talking about "these toys belong to the library, so everyone can play with them" and "sticks in the park belong to everyone" etc for things that don't belong to a specific person.

I know some parents who stress about it majorly, but it doesn't bother me.  Just another big life concept they're picking up and exploring.

[mommy212]

LO is doing this too. Maybe the sheets thing comes from doing the laundry- I know O thinks all the kitchen towels are mine, and oter random things because I wash them, fold them put them on the bed etc. When we put up laundry we identify whose is what, and whose food is whose, and whose books. He calls himself 'baby' and also identifies the dog's things.

As for the beer thing- my 2yo says 'wine' pretty clearly lol and he thinks when I buy him grape juice every once in a while it is wine, and he calls it that.

[tooraloora]

My roommate's toddler does this a lot. I'm his primary caregiver on the days he's here, so I see a lot of it. Anything wooden he sees as belonging to DD, anything woolen or felted belongs to DS, any sort of card belongs to Daddy, and plastic red cups are Mommy's. Don't worry about the beer thing. I've heard that one sooooo many times at the grocery store from random kids. When I go into that aisle with roomie's DS, he exclaims "Beer! Beer! Party! Mommy's beer! Party!" I may not be his mother, but I'm fully aware that people who see us out together assume I am. The first time I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Now I usually just shrug it off.

[Quinalla]

Yes, my DD does this too, where she will just say "Daddy's" "Mommy's" "DD's" and will say the name of the object if she knows it. I think they start learning that certain items belong to certain people so it is a fun category for them to point out once they start getting it. She also does "mine" and "my X" as well, but yeah, I think that is all part of that learning that not only are people separate entities but that we also all have stuff that belongs to us. I like it actually as she will take my explanation of beer being Mommy's as meaning she can't have it now usually instead of a mini-tantrum