Monday, July 14, 2008

Out of the mouth of children

A while ago my son looked up in the sky and said “Look, Dad, a bald eagle.”
From where I was standing it could have been a crow but I thought it was a good teaching opportunity. I said “You can’t call it a bald eagle, Son.”
“Why can’t I call it a bald eagle, Dad.”
“The word bald is offensive. You have to say it is follically challenged. You don’t want to offend an eagle.”
“Well, Dad,” he replied, “He looks bald to me.”
I have to agree. Bald is bald.
Children have a different, perhaps more honest view, of reality than we do. We can learn a lot from them if we listen.
As we get older we seem to be shaped by our culture rather than reality.
Wasn’t it a child who told the emperor he wasn’t wearing any clothes?
I am learning to listen to my son to see if I can learn something or remember something I have forgotten. Now that he is learning to read I am remembering some of the difficulties of the English language.
“Dad, why is there a b in climb?”
“Why is there a k in knife?”
When was the last time you thought about those letters?
Word origins keep me on the ball too. We go to Hoss’s and he wants to know what chick peas are and how they got their name.
Do we have a curious son or does your child want to know where Easter lilies got their name? We were able to explain the Easter part right away but we are still working on the lilies. I hope he never finds out about rump roast.
Every time we leave the house we may have a learning opportunity—even a simple shopping trip. If Walmart is named for Mr. Walton and Weis Market is named after Mr. Weis who is Dairy Queen named after?
Having a child around the house can be good for my mental health. Children can keep us on our toes. They can make us think about things we have taken for granted.
Last week Micah was disappointed because he wanted to surprise his class with something. One of his classmates gave away his secret. Micah was upset that his friend took his lightning.
Of course what he meant was that someone stole his thunder but isn’t it just as painful when someone takes your lightning?
Maybe children can be good for our physical health too. The other day my son tells me I look like a sumo wrestler. I guess I better reach for the dictionary instead of a donut.