Hi Kelly,

I have a three year old daughter who isn't doing much talking.  She can say a few words here and there, but not many.  Meanwhile my friend's two-year-old is so well spoken you'd swear that he was in kindergarten!  People keep asking me if my daughter has a diagnosed speech delay and whether or not she's in a special school.  Not only are those questions upsetting, they're also embarrassing.  I'm starting to feel like a bad mom for just waiting for my daughter to grow out of this phase.

Please Help,

Questioning Everything

Dear Questioning,

First off, people are jerks so don't let some random moron question your parenting skills.  Second, I'm obviously not a child expert but, as a child, I never uttered a single word until I was 4 and now I talk for a living.  Every child is different and their speech and language development depends on many things: how social they are, how they're spoken to at home, their temperament, etc.  Some kids (raising my hand here) just don't feel like talking when everyone is trying to make them.  I say give it a few more months and then, if you're still not seeing improvement, find a child expert who specializes in speech delays and take your daughter in for an evaluation. 

Keep me posted!

Kelly McKay