No wonder kids look up to us. Even the dumbest adult has a mountain of knowledge. The mountain is so massive, in fact, that we take it for granted. This has really become evident since my wife and I started
No wonder kids look up to us. Even the dumbest adult has a mountain of knowledge.
The mountain is so massive, in fact, that we take it for granted. This has really become evident since my wife and I started trying to explain the world to our inquisitive 3-year-old son.
He’s a sponge, but even sponges have limits. Saturate them too much and they can’t absorb anymore.
One concept has been particularly hard to get across. Time.
I can’t blame Sean for struggling with that one. It’s much easier to separate days from weeks from months once you’ve lived a few hundred or thousand of them.
As he works to get that down, we’ve been able to meet him halfway – to see the clock and calendar through his eyes. Here, for anyone’s use, is the unofficial toddler dictionary of time:
Last night: Some time within recent memory. This applies to both the night in November when he threw up repeatedly and the actual previous evening when we played with some toy.
Tomorrow: Some time in the future. This is why our son tells people in January that we’re going to the beach tomorrow. Not because we’re avid Polar Bear plungers.
In the morning: When he wakes up, regardless of the time of day. In his mind, the hours before his afternoon nap were last night.
Later: Immediately. If we mention Grandma or a play pal is coming “later,” he runs to the back door. I suppose, technically, it is later by the time he gets there.
Yesternight: I have no idea. He developed this clever hybrid, and the origins and meaning remain his secret.
Next week: The next time he stays at Grandma’s house.
This little toddler code provides quite a few laughs. Being able to translate it preserves our credibility as parents.
If we promise before his nap to play a game “in the morning,” we have to deliver on that promise when he wakes up in the afternoon – which, to him, is morning. Otherwise our word is worthless.
A conversation with a persistently curious child also provides a better brain workout than a book full of Sudoku. Especially when it’s peppered with time references.
“What did we do last night, Daddy?” he’ll ask.
I have to ask for clarification.
“Which last night?”
To keep my brain sharp for his questions, I may have to spring for some Ginkgo biloba. In fact, kiddo, I’ll go tomorrow.
That ought to buy me a couple of months.
• Reporter Mike Moore writes Daddy Talk. Mommy Talk is written by reporters Marci Laehr Tenuta and Janine Anderson. Their columns run in a three-week rotation and can be found online at www.journaltimes.com/mom. Laehr Tenuta has three children, two boys and a girl. Moore and Anderson each have one son.
