I graduated from high school. I made
it through college. I thought I had learned life's necessities and
then some: I've read The Tempest. I can fill my tires up. I even have a go-to Thanksgiving side dish. But now I'm realizing that perhaps
the most crucial skill I've acquired is this: I can operate a
computer.
And thank the Lord for that, because
ever since my son turned 4, he has been on a quest to find immediate
answers to the most unanswerable questions on the planet.
Planets, in fact, top his vast and
often unrelated list of interests. At 6:30 a.m., he begins the day
with questions along the lines of: Which is the hottest planet
[hint: it is not Mercury]? What color is Saturn? How small is a
dwarf planet? I only know the answers to these riddles because
of the computer. Specifically Google.
(My son hard at work on YouTube.)
My inquisitive son also went through a
solid sea-creature fascination stage. He was so enamored with
underwater animals that I thought it might be his eventual focus in
life (how naive of me!).
At first, Google sufficed to answer
burning questions like, “Where do seahorses live?” and “How
cold is the Arctic ocean?” Youtube also became a handy
source for exploring the ocean together. Convinced this fixation was
permanent (and desperate for wireless answers), I invested in Simon
and Schuster's Children's Guide to Sea Creatures. It's
beautiful, and he pored over it for all of 2 days.
Now my son is obsessed with another
topic-- all things speed-related. How many miles-per-hour does a
rocket go? What's the fastest type of bird? If an orca whale raced
a great white shark, who would win?
Though I gratefully acknowledge that
Google has maintained my last few shreds of sanity during this time,
my son has taught me much more than my Internet research. It was
only after his questioning really quickened that I realized this: I
know nothing. Sure, I know some things, but similar to how my son must feel every single day, this
realization is both exciting and overwhelming. There is so much
to learn!
Fortunately, I have my trusty 4 year
old to keep me on my toes. How else would I know that a googol
(that's the mathematic spelling) has 100 zeroes, lightning can
reach 54,000 degrees, and that the whale would win the race?
What have your kids taught you?
~Julia @ Frantic Mama
P.S. I recently changed my blog address from www.FranticMama.blogspot.com to www.FranticMama.com in case you want to update your bookmarks!
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