Meaning of "Mama" Confused Mommy

by Tamara
(Fort Worth, Texas, USA)

At seven months old came my daughter’s first word, “Dada!”

Then “uh-oh”.

My daughter Renee followed me, crawling, babbling.

She then got up on her knees and “walked”, hands in the air. It was the “Mommy, pick me up!” gesture she’d learned at 10 ½ months.

Well, I wasn’t picking her up again – I was trying to work on dishes. Then, among the babble, she paused. Then came a deliberate “Ma!”

I picked her up. She was delighted.

I rocked her and carried her around. After a few minutes, I put her back down and resumed work.

She came back to the pick me up position. I looked down and said hi. She bounced up and down on my leg. Then she yelled out, “Ma!”

I picked her up again. She was thrilled while we played.

Then I put her in her play yard. We repeated this process several times.

Ah, the power of positive reinforcement. When she wanted me, she said that specific, magic syllable.

Then I went out of sight and started on laundry. She yelled out, “Mama!” I came in and consoled her. Then I went back to laundry.

I peeked in when she yelled for me so that she could see that I was still around.

Later that night, my husband came back from work. Renee has always been thrilled with her father. When she heard the door open, she squirmed for me to put her down.

She crawled over to the door and waited.

He yelled out, “Hi, Renee!” She chirruped, stood up on her knees, held up her arms, and yelled, “Mama!”

Mama did not mean me, Mommy; it meant “Pick me up!”