On the other hand understanding the developing communication and speech of a young one can be quite the challenge for parents.

It can also lead to some interesting words and interpretations along the way.

I fondly remember the time when my first born, as a toddler asked me for some "flying chips". I confess I was stumped and asked him to repeat himself. Again he asked for "flying chips".

It was a bit of a puzzle for both my husband and myself for quite a few minutes. Of course our delayed response to the request frustrated our little one.

Then the penny dropped. Well at least we hoped it had. I grabbed a pack of chips from the pantry - plain of course - and asked our hungry toddler "is this what you would like?"

The smile that spread across his face was all the response I needed to realise he was asking for plain chips. Somehow he had mixed up plain with plane and come to the conclusion they were flying chips. The complex thought process of that little mind to go from plain chips to flying chips has never ceased to amaze me.

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From memory, I believe it was the first time one of our children stumped us verbally, but I can assure you it was not the last.

Another word that the left us confused for a short while was one that became a regular used by our youngest daughter.

She would have been little more than a year old when one day she requested a 'gee'. No she was not a culinary genius requesting the ingredient 'cow ghee'. She was simply asking for a 'gee'.

After some careful investigation from both parents and older siblings - we followed the pointed finger - we realised that she was actually asking for a drink. I have no idea how she translated the word drink to gee but it was the word she used for quite some time.

This same child again stumped me with some philosophical musings one day when she was about five years old.

We were traveling in the car and from the back seat I heard this little voice say "Mummy, I know I'm real, but how do I know you and daddy are? How do I know I'm not dreaming about you?"

It was a question that had me speechless. I was floored by the deep thinking behind the question. I was left pondering how best to answer her, to convince that we were real without trivialising the very thought-provoking comment.

I don't believe I came up with a particularly riveting response, and no-where near as deeply thought out as the question, but it seemed to do the trick. It went something along the lines of "that's a very good question. I can honestly say that daddy and I are real and we are always here for you."

It was an answer that must have ticked the correct boxes because the matter was never raised again. However, I have never forgotten that deeply thought out question.

In fact, the musings and conversations with our children were often intriguing...and some times a little shocking. Let's just say what is said at daddy's footy, should stay at daddy's footy. And, believe it or not, the same could apply for things heard at pre-school.

My husband and I were very careful about not swearing around our children. So we were shocked when our son, who was about three at the time, clearly said the taboo four-letter 'F' word while playing with his Tonka truck.

At first we gave each other an accusatory glare, but then we asked the toddler with the colourful language "where did you here that word?" The response was simple - "daddy's footy".

We said nothing more and fortunately that word didn't become a part of his young and developing vocabulary.

The youngest of our brood shocked us with a complete sentence using the same word when she was about the same age. At the time she was playing with some blocks and all of a sudden she said "F...en hell, don't say that word."

We were both floored, not only by the word she used, but by the way she used it in a sentence. We whispered to each other discussing whether or not we should address the matter or ignore it. We had heard that it was best to ignore a child when they swore. However, we decided to ask her what she had said. Of course she repeated the same sentence word for word.

At that point we decided to say no more but we were both stumped as to how she had formulated such a complex sentence complete with cuss word and reprimand.

It wasn't until a few weeks later, while chatting with her pre-school teacher that the mystery was solved. I mentioned what our daughter had said and, a little bemused, the teacher apologised and explained there was a youngster at pre-school who was caught saying the first part of the sentence. The second part was the response from the teacher. Clearly our little one had heard the entire interaction and taken it on board.

The good news is that the colourful phrase was never heard again - well at least not in our home. That is unless we are sharing funny childhood stories.

What I have learnt is that there is rarely a dull moment once children begin to speak.

Mumma Jak has three children and is familiar with the challenges of parenthood. She is well aware that every child is different, every day can be different and a parent's approach needs to be different according to the situation at hand. She is happy to say she fumbled through, motivated from the perfect starting point - unconditional love. The good news is that all three of her children have become normal functioning adults.

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