(Merci à Truffaut)
[Dutch sand dollars]
Today at the zoo I had many opportunities to observe parenting behavior and the actions of children.
I amassed further support for my hypothesis that while mothers, by and large, direct their children with words and phrases (“Come closer to me, Taylor”), fathers tend to dispense with such niceties and move their children bodily—even to the point of swiveling their toddler’s head, as if it’s a bowling ball, in order to turn the child in the direction of an otter. Apparently pointing is not sufficiently manly…
I also witnessed yet another example of the truly pathetic state of education in this country, as an eight-year-old boy, looking into the otter’s pool, asked, “Are clams plants?”
No wonder our nation is falling behind all others.
Finally, I got to overhear the relative means of comparison used by a couple of siblings as they tried to understand the size of some animal (missed that part of the conversation). “Was it bigger than you?” the girl asked.
“Yes, it was,” their mother told them.
Astonishment, followed by, “Was it bigger than the whole universe??”
“Maybe not quite that big.”
A brief pause, and then the final important comparison: “Was it bigger than a trash can?”
I guess once you’ve covered those three important size categories, there’s not much else you need to know.
[Dutch sand dollars]
Today at the zoo I had many opportunities to observe parenting behavior and the actions of children.
I amassed further support for my hypothesis that while mothers, by and large, direct their children with words and phrases (“Come closer to me, Taylor”), fathers tend to dispense with such niceties and move their children bodily—even to the point of swiveling their toddler’s head, as if it’s a bowling ball, in order to turn the child in the direction of an otter. Apparently pointing is not sufficiently manly…
I also witnessed yet another example of the truly pathetic state of education in this country, as an eight-year-old boy, looking into the otter’s pool, asked, “Are clams plants?”
No wonder our nation is falling behind all others.
Finally, I got to overhear the relative means of comparison used by a couple of siblings as they tried to understand the size of some animal (missed that part of the conversation). “Was it bigger than you?” the girl asked.
“Yes, it was,” their mother told them.
Astonishment, followed by, “Was it bigger than the whole universe??”
“Maybe not quite that big.”
A brief pause, and then the final important comparison: “Was it bigger than a trash can?”
I guess once you’ve covered those three important size categories, there’s not much else you need to know.
{A note: I do write all text and take all pictures. Please do not reproduce either without my permission.}
1 comment:
Are earplugs or an I-Pod the next move? Overhearing is not going in a good direction!Those dutch sand dollars look like tiny sugar donuts. I want them!
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