To think that toddlers should say thank-you...

[Neighboursfan]

...And not 'ta'? I think the reasoning that it's easier to say is silly. My ds is 16 months and can say 'Thank-you' - comes out as dang-do but I'd rather that than 'ta'.

If the child hears "ta" for thanks, it is likely he will say "ta". If he does not hear "ta" I don't believe it is possible that he will come out with it as a version for thanks as it sounds nothing like it! My 21 month old daughter says "anks".

however, the most important thing is good manners - I am absolutely strict about them...always correct other people's children if they don't use those words (in whatever form they choose,mind)

ta/thankyou/cheers all saying same thing. Is the manners that is important, not what they actually say (or how they pronounce it).

Haychee, surely you mean "please may I have a drink"

Either will do
Please may i have a drink or i would like a drink please.
As long as its polite i dont care. Its "i want..." that is just downright rude - makes my blood boil.

we have un'que inn this house, i might prefer Ta !

Yes I shall look forward to the day ds can say please. At the moment it's just grunting and pointing... drives me mad.

Please shoud be easier than thankyou - only one syllabul(?sp). Mine said "peas" for ages.

sometimes ds,when asked if he'd like somethings answers by saying 'no,I'm alright' which drives me mad - always correct him here

im sorry if my post seemed aggressive, but why do people feel the need to comment on how a child talks at such a young age. I dont say "ta" to my child because it is not a word i use so i wouldnt teach her to say it and then unteach it if you see what i mean. I do not need to make more effort to teach my child to say thankyou as i make lots of efforts to encourage my DD to talk. I am just sensitive about this and think that maybe people should stop and think before they post on aspects of child development which are not cut and dry. Oh and haychee, my child IS an average toddler, she just has slight speech delay!!

Luce I understand how you feel, I often feel the sme with thread titles- esp. a few G&T ones that have said 'X is so bright- doing X- help (not an exact wuote LOL) and I want to type lucky you but of course I can't, because every persons problems are valid.

Hopefully your lo will catch up soon, if not (ds3 won't) you do learn to deal with it. dosn't stop hurting mind, but you learn.

Lets not let this thread start into one of those horrid ones.
I didnt mean your child wasnt average, but she is obviously not average with her speech development. I didnt mean to cause you any offence, and yes i think you are very sensitive about it. Perhaps average was the wrong word to choose, sorry.
Im sorry you have difficulties with your dd, but i think the op was referring to teaching good manners and encouraging clear speech wherever possible

DS1 and DS2 first learned to say "ta" (a word I do use occasionaly...just to get your really riled about it I sometimes say "Ta muchly" )....neither had any difficulty at "changing^ to thankyou once they were able to say it properly.

Haychee I agree that the thread should go abck to the OP but hey cut her slack- it bloody hurts!

Slightly off topic but boobies were mentioned! Don't know how we got onto the subject but my neighbour never used euphemisms for rudey bits with her children, so right from the off they said penis and vagina. I know it's silly when I say 'twinkle' to dd, but I don't even refer to my own bits as vagina! Did make me giggle to think of toddlers saying penis and vagina.

Thanks haychee. LEM I wasn't commenting on children's development, more on the parents' over-simplification of standard words if that makes sense. Obviously if it's part of your standard dialect then great, but it usually isn't, so why not just say thank-you?

best not respond with comments like she is obviously not average when it comes to speech development if you dont want to upset me then. This thread started off as smug and condescending, if it degenerates then thats hardly my fault. There is more to good manners than saying thankyou by rote.

best not respond with comments like she is obviously not average when it comes to speech development if you dont want to upset me then. This thread started off as smug and condescending, if it degenerates then thats hardly my fault. There is more to good manners than saying thankyou by rote.

my 12mth old says tata and it doesnt bother me in the least, i think its quite cute. obviously as he gets older and his speech improves i will encourage him to say thank you

boobies??? where??

I always said thank you and when dd couldn't, she said ta instead (also picked that up in nursery though, I think).

What reeeeally annoys me is when people in shops say to dd 'what do you say?'. She's quite shy (at 2.5) and just gets more shy when someone says this (including me I have to admit - manners are my 'thing'). Someone once wouldn't give dd a sticker until she said thank you, she got quite upset. IMO it's up to me and dh to teach her manners, not random members of the public!

I don't care if they say gracias, danke, merci, ta, thank you, danke ye val. Who cares, its the manners behind the gesture that count.

I really do apologise Lucyellensmum. It wasnt meant as you have taken it.

By Neighboursfan on Thu 06-Sep-07 13:07:17
Oh yes, don't get me wrong it's preferential to nothing, but I think we should make more of an effort to teach thank-you early on. Having said that I never taught ds Thank-you - he just picked it up. However I did teach him 'boobies' so maybe I am being hypocritical on this thread...

By SueBaroo on Thu 06-Sep-07 13:13:42
BOOBIES? I have taught my children to say 'Mammaries' properly from the word go

So there

Ahh i see!