Conversing With the Kids

Highlights from today's conversations with the kids:

JULIA: Mom?  Did you know that everytime anyone says "genes," I picture Daddy PULLING HIS JEANS up??
ME: You do?  That's so funny.
JULIA: Yeah.  And, like, he has a SMILE on his face while he's doing it.
ME: So if you hear something about having genes for, like, brown hair, or something, you picture Daddy pulling up his jeans?
JULIA: Yeah!  (thoughtful and reflective for a moment) Well, he's not, like, going to the BATHROOM or anything.  He's just pulling his jeans up because, like, they were falling DOWN.

Wow.  I had just assumed he was pulling up his jeans because they were baggy.  I definitely hadn't even considered the image of Ethan, fresh off the pot, smiling and pulling his jeans back up.  Thanks for the lovely mental picture, Jules.

Madeleine had other bathroom matters to discuss on our way home from school today.

MADELEINE: Mama?  At school the teachers say we should wash our hands after we go to the bathroom.
ME: Yeah, well it's always a good idea to wash your hands after you've used the bathroom somewhere.
MADELEINE: And Mama.  There's a BATHROOM picture that shows that first you should put soap on your hands, THEN you should RUB THEM TOGETHER, then you should rinse them in the water, and then you should REACH UP to the paper towels.
ME: Ohh, so it kind of shows the STEPS for washing your hands.
MADELEINE: (giggling like I am totally ridiculous) Uh...MAMA.  You said "STEPS."
ME: Yeah, I mean, like the steps for watching your hands.
MADELEINE: No.  Mama.  You said "STEPS."

I then launched into an explanation of the word "steps" as used to represent the consecutive order in which an operation is performed, versus "steps" meaning picking up your foot and putting it down in another location.  Whether or not I made any sense to Madeleine is unclear, as she appeared to continue thinking her mother is just a big fat dolt.



On another note, Julia explained the start of a new classroom project as we walked to school today: the children all picked four topics/skills on which they are experts.  The next step (see, Madeleine?) will be to create instructions that can be used by others to gain this particular skill. 

What did Julia pick?  Any guesses?

Here are her self-chosen fields of expertise:

1.) Playing the piano
2.) Painting her nails
3.) Swinging
4.) Drawing

This made me wonder what Madeleine would pick if asked about her own expertise. 

ME: Madeleine, what are you an expert at?
MADELEINE: (without a moment's hesitation) PAINTING.
ME: Oh yeah?  What makes you an expert at painting?
MADELEINE: Because.  It's really, really FUN!  And...when it DRIPS down the paper, I just try to PUSH it back up.  But...it doesn't really push back up, and...if I put my FINGER under it to stop it from dripping, then my hands would get all PAINTY...so it just DRIPS AND DRIPS down the paper.
ME: Oh.  What else are you an expert at?
MADELEINE: Uh, coloring.
ME: That's true.  You are definitely REALLY good at coloring.
MADELEINE: Yeah.  But...NOT as good as remembering how much FINGERS everyone has.

Well, of COURSE.  How could I forget Madeleine's area of highest expertise?  I mean, she remembers that I have ten fingers, she remembers that Julia has ten fingers, she remembers that Ethan has ten fingers, and on and on.  That's a *really* hard thing to keep track of.  I think she could definitely be of benefit to the world at large by sharing that bit of expertise with the general population, wouldn't you agree??