A few years ago I read a study that showed the developmental stages of humor. I don't remember all of the stages, but I do know that sarcasm was one of the later stages to develop and that it isn't until about age 10 that most kids even get sarcasm.
I've taught 3rd and 5th grades and I've seen it first hand. If you make a sarcastic comment to 3rd graders and they think you're mean. When you get sarcastic with a 5th grader he thinks you're the funniest guy ever.
I'm not saying that this five year old always gets sarcasm when it comes from others, but tonight I saw for myself that she is capable of creating it:
Bethany was talking and she kept referring to Ramona Quimby. "Oh, that's just like Ramona..." or "Oh, Dad! You're acting just like Ramona Quimby's dad!"
Gwen turned and asked, "Who's Ramona Quimby?"
"Oh, she's this girl in some of my books. She's hilarious!"
To which Gwen responds with her eyes rolling, "Waah! I'm Bethany and I'm sad because my best friend isn't even real."
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Gwen has always been advanced verbally.
When she was a baby, she was already using language to deflect trouble: I'm specifically thinking of a time before she was two, still in a crib, and speaking in complete sentences; She had been climbing in and out of her crib at night and I wanted to catch her in the act. So when I heard the sound of her playing with her Little People playground set, I sprung into action. On the way to her room I heard feet thumping, a mighty leap, and a scramble into the crib. I opened the door to find the Little People still swinging in the tiny playground and Gwen in bed-- cool as a cucumber-- with her hands crossed behind her head, legs crossed, and one toe making lazy circles in the air above her bent knee. She looked up at me and said, (do you remember her little John Wayne voice?) "Dad, I hungry. Gimme some nuts."
I've taught 3rd and 5th grades and I've seen it first hand. If you make a sarcastic comment to 3rd graders and they think you're mean. When you get sarcastic with a 5th grader he thinks you're the funniest guy ever.
I'm not saying that this five year old always gets sarcasm when it comes from others, but tonight I saw for myself that she is capable of creating it:
Bethany was talking and she kept referring to Ramona Quimby. "Oh, that's just like Ramona..." or "Oh, Dad! You're acting just like Ramona Quimby's dad!"
Gwen turned and asked, "Who's Ramona Quimby?"
"Oh, she's this girl in some of my books. She's hilarious!"
To which Gwen responds with her eyes rolling, "Waah! I'm Bethany and I'm sad because my best friend isn't even real."
***********
Gwen has always been advanced verbally.
When she was a baby, she was already using language to deflect trouble: I'm specifically thinking of a time before she was two, still in a crib, and speaking in complete sentences; She had been climbing in and out of her crib at night and I wanted to catch her in the act. So when I heard the sound of her playing with her Little People playground set, I sprung into action. On the way to her room I heard feet thumping, a mighty leap, and a scramble into the crib. I opened the door to find the Little People still swinging in the tiny playground and Gwen in bed-- cool as a cucumber-- with her hands crossed behind her head, legs crossed, and one toe making lazy circles in the air above her bent knee. She looked up at me and said, (do you remember her little John Wayne voice?) "Dad, I hungry. Gimme some nuts."
***********
With this history, I can't wait for the teenage years.
4 comments:
Those are great stories! She always has been advanced in speaking...I remember when she stayed with us when Catherine was born, she was naming everything in the room and colors, and did not want to sleep. Bethany had been asleep for hours!
ohhh,... and it's not JUST sarcasm, it's BITING sarcasm!
wow. you will have your hands full. I forgot about the "gimme some nuts" story. That is priceless. The whole knowing how to look casual after being naughty thing before 2, very advanced. Your children are all gifted!
That Gwen is BRILLIANT!! That sarcastic comment is soooooo like the things that you and I said to each other in high school Matthew!
Maybe you should start a study on middle children and vocabulary/sarcasm skills. I SWEAR there's a correlation. AND that correlation also correlates closely somehow to an unwillingness to go obediently to sleep. Probably because they have so much to say that 10-12 hours just isn't sufficient, making precious sleep hours the only reasonable alternative.
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