They say that the average 4-year-old asks 437 questions a day.
'They' conveniently forgot to add that an average 3-year-old asks 34457389475983472059872 questions a day.
There is a garage near Xena's school. It's opposite the bus stop where we take the bus back home, so we see it every day. One day, she saw a mechanic lying under a car. This is our conversation, translated into English.
"Mama?"
"Yes."
"Why is uncle lying down?"
"Umm... he's repairing the car."
"What happened to the car?"
"It's broken."
"Who broke it?"
"Umm... nobody broke it. It's just old and needs some repairs."
"Why is it old?"
"Because... err... it was made a long time ago."
"By whom?"
"Hmmm... By some uncles, aunties and some machines."
"What are their names?"
"I don't know their names."
"Why did they make the car?"
"So that people could travel."
"Which people?"
"Ummm... uncles and aunties and children."
"Why?"
"Because... you need to travel to get to places."
"Which places?"
"Anywhere you want."
Fortunately for me, our bus came and that was the end of the conversation.
The next day, to my utter horror, she saw the mechanic lying down under another car.
"Why is uncle lying down?"
Oh. Dear. Lord.
I decided to adopt a different strategy this time. I turned the tables on her.
"You tell me. Why is uncle lying down?"
Her answer was instant.
"Because he is very tired."
:|
'They' conveniently forgot to add that an average 3-year-old asks 34457389475983472059872 questions a day.
There is a garage near Xena's school. It's opposite the bus stop where we take the bus back home, so we see it every day. One day, she saw a mechanic lying under a car. This is our conversation, translated into English.
"Mama?"
"Yes."
"Why is uncle lying down?"
"Umm... he's repairing the car."
"What happened to the car?"
"It's broken."
"Who broke it?"
"Umm... nobody broke it. It's just old and needs some repairs."
"Why is it old?"
"Because... err... it was made a long time ago."
"By whom?"
"Hmmm... By some uncles, aunties and some machines."
"What are their names?"
"I don't know their names."
"Why did they make the car?"
"So that people could travel."
"Which people?"
"Ummm... uncles and aunties and children."
"Why?"
"Because... you need to travel to get to places."
"Which places?"
"Anywhere you want."
Fortunately for me, our bus came and that was the end of the conversation.
The next day, to my utter horror, she saw the mechanic lying down under another car.
"Why is uncle lying down?"
Oh. Dear. Lord.
I decided to adopt a different strategy this time. I turned the tables on her.
"You tell me. Why is uncle lying down?"
Her answer was instant.
"Because he is very tired."
:|
7 comments:
He's fixing the car for an Australian Xena who will come with her Mommy and Poppy and ride around Singapore in the back seat.
Suddenly, all will be clear to your 3 year old :) :) :)
Hahaha..i can understand!!
Will adopt your strategy of posing the same question to my daughter when she asks something..
Clever child! :D
You should give her credit for asking different kinds of questions. Mostly, kids just do the annoying "Why?" at the end of every sentence that makes you want to tear your hair out.
Then again, maybe she's just not old enough to understand how to cause irritation yet. ;)
LOL
I could soooo relate to this.
I turn it around to my dotter too! :--)
This happened recently.
"This guy is yawning, why is he yawning?"
"He is tired thats why"
"Why is he tired"
"Why is he tired?" That is how i turn the qs back to her
"um um um because he is yawning that is why he is tired"
and a full circle lol
:o why wouldn't you just admit that you don't know? Half the trouble is this need to know everything always.
Arun,
LOL! Full marks for all the referencing! ;)
Sri,
Yep, it works really well.
cluelesstill,
I'm sure you did that to Viv a lot? :P
SK,
LOL! :D
Subhash,
1. Why would I say I don't know for what I do know? What I didn't know (the names of the uncles and aunties and machines who made the car), I admitted.
2. If she asks, "Why is uncle lying down?" and I answer "I don't know", that would be a sad conversation-killer.
Haha.. My son (he is 3 months younger than Xena.. why kind of means he is as old as her.. :)) does the same except he repeats what I say first, so the conversation goes like this..
"Why is pingu crying?"
"Because his mommy hit him."
"Ohh! his mommy hit him.. Why did his mommy hit him?"
"Because he didn't clean up his mess."
"Ohh.. he didn't clean up his mess.. Why didn't he clean up his mess?"
LOL!!! :D
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