Baby talk is just one of those things that naturally happens in parenting. A bit like constantly talking about poo. Many of us vowed that neither of these things would happen when we became parents but I’d hazard a guess that 90% of us have ended up doing both.

Talking in a baby voice and using “cute” terminology is endearing. It’s a special language we develop when communicating with our baby. We shorten words, change our tone of voice and sometimes we even leave words out completely.

What I didn’t expect was just how much this baby talk would become normal between my husband and I.

Anyone else?

The other day my husband told me about a deal that had gone through in work. Something he had been working on for quite some time. When he told me the good news I physically clapped and said “hooraaaaay” in a high-pitched voice. It resulted in me with a red face and the two of us overcome with laughter.

I’m not proud of this but there was one weekend when our son was having a day out with his grandparents. We were cleaning the house and I had to constantly resist the urge to sing “clean up clean up everybody everywhere”.

While dishing up dinner my husband ate a sneaky piece of chicken out of the frying pan and I casually said “ah ah” as though he were one of the kids. It didn’t stop him from going back for a second piece so perhaps I need to work on my tone.

My husband asked me did I have a “widdle” (little) cold when I started coughing after dinner. There was no kids present and he was a widdle bit freaked out by how naturally it popped out.

“Daddy, do you want a cup of tea?”, “Mammy, where is the house phone?”, “Dada, can we leave now?”, “Mama, look at this video” All were said when there were no children in the vicinity. We are Mammy And Daddy now. 

It seems “oh-oh, spaghettio” was an acceptable way to respond to my husband spilling some water. My husband asked me did I have a “widdle” (little) cold when I started coughing after dinner. There was no kids present and he was a widdle bit freaked out by how naturally it popped out.