Ah, the wonderful and apparently endless questions of childhood. I did my best to answer my boys' as fully and honestly as I could, with only the occasional time I had to admit ignorance. Their father's dad, however, waited not so patiently until Simon started to read and then presented him with a comprehensive, childs encyclopaedia. I always thought it was a copout, although he remembered it fondly. Apparently every sentence he uttered started with "Why?" If you ever tire of answering, you can look forward to their teenage years, when not only will they not ask you to answer any questions they have, but they wouldn't dream of listening to you for more than a moment. It's a time I remember fondly except for their tendency to ask questions with potentially embarrassing answers while we were on a bus or tube. Embarrassing for eavesdropping bystanders, I mean.
Have they managed to come up with any question that stumped you yet?
I have an excellent handle on biology and enough clue about physics to answer questions with enough detail to impress a six year old. It's the social ones that were more tricky: why is it OK for that builder not to have a shirt on when I make Quatlet get dressed before leaving the house, why can't he ask random people on the bus if he can sit on their laps (usually a terrified youth with headphones), why can't he loudly shout about what sort of shape my period has created on a towel when in a public toilet (or anywhere else - there's a time and place for Rorshach blot analysis and my pants is not it...) Why won't that toddler get out of Fluxlet's way before Fluxlet tries to hit them, why does Quatling want to be in my room all the time... Give me factual questions any day...
Quatlet has been most impressed recently with what we have and haven't done in space - he wanted to go to the moon until I told him it would take a week to get there. He thinks we should build more international space stations so people can jump in zero gravity, and then send loads of robots to Mars so people can move there when he grows up. He's both disappointed and relieved that we've never met any aliens (having got into Star Wars).
L was fascinated yesterday with videos of people on the ISS. We spent some time dropping the remote control on the sofa and comparing this with things just floating around in the air up there.
Comments 9
Their father's dad, however, waited not so patiently until Simon started to read and then presented him with a comprehensive, childs encyclopaedia. I always thought it was a copout, although he remembered it fondly. Apparently every sentence he uttered started with "Why?"
If you ever tire of answering, you can look forward to their teenage years, when not only will they not ask you to answer any questions they have, but they wouldn't dream of listening to you for more than a moment.
It's a time I remember fondly except for their tendency to ask questions with potentially embarrassing answers while we were on a bus or tube. Embarrassing for eavesdropping bystanders, I mean.
Have they managed to come up with any question that stumped you yet?
Reply
Give me factual questions any day...
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
He's both disappointed and relieved that we've never met any aliens (having got into Star Wars).
Reply
Reply
Reply
(The comment has been removed)
Reply
Leave a comment