Thursday, June 08, 2006

Tales from the Back Seat: A Study in Imagination (or Lack Thereof)

This week I have been taking Chloe, Marcus and G to swimming lessons. I haven't spent much time with the kids alone, so it's been great to see the dynamics of this relationship. I know Chloe and Marcus are very close and G has been drawn to them like a moth to a flame. All three kids run at similar speeds: thoughtful, intelligent and grounded. What I am learning is that, although similar, there are some very distinct differences.

There have been two distinct conversations in my vehicle which have enlightened me further into the nature of my son. It has lead me suspect he doesn't have a wild imagination in his makeup. Or he watches too much Discovery and Science Channels. Or both.

Conversation #1 between Chloe and G on Tuesday:
Chloe: "Did you see that? I can see that because I have super eyes."
Me: "Super eyes?"
Chloe beams: "Yes, I can see lots of things, things other people can't."
Me: "How interesting!"
Chloe: "Yes, and you know what? I EVEN HAVE EYES IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD."
G: "No you don't."
Chloe: "Yes I do."
G looks carefully at Chloe: "I don't see them. People don't have eyes on the back of their heads, Chloe."
Chloe looks indignantly at G and tosses her hair at him: "Yes I do, they are under my hair."
G: "Mom, Chloe doesn't have eyes on the back of her head." Turns to Chloe, "You can't have invisible eyes on the back of your head. It's not real, Chloe."
Chloe gets more flustered: "My MOM has them, and I have them and Shiloh has them. They run in OUR FAMILY."
I diffused the conversation for the length of the street until we reached Chloe's house, where it was promptly forgotten. (WHEW!)


Conversation #2 between Marcus, Chloe and G on Wednesday:
My mind was on traffic when I heard...
Marcus: "...when we went to Italy."
Chloe: "Italy isn't a real place."
Me: "Sure it is. Don't you eat Italian food like Pizza and Spaghetti? That's from Italy."
G: "Yeah, Italy is a real place."
Marcus: "I know. I eat those things when I go there. I go there at night when my parents are sleeping. I have been going since I was a baby. Mr. Sir meets me and takes me places."
Chloe huffs: "Mr. Sir"
The threesome erupt in giggles.
Chloe: "I want to go with you sometime. I know Mr. Sir."
Marcus: "You know Mr. Sir?"
Chloe: "Well... I know Mrs. Madam."
Marcus: "Oh. Well, when you sleep over, we can all go. We just have to be quiet and not let me parents know."
G takes his turn huffing: "You can't visit Italy in one night, Marcus. It takes a long time to get there. Italy is like halfway around the world. You have to take an airplane."
Marcus, quite matter of factly: "No, really. I go visit places, I have been doing it a long time."
Chloe, dreamily: "And you go the airport, right? I want to go too, Marcus."
G: "You really don't go places when you sleep."
Me: "We can go all sorts of places in our imaginations."
The kids get quiet and promptly change the subject.

Guess my adult input killed that conversation.

3 comments:

Ab-stractions said...

should I buy G the pocket protecter and slide rule now or later?

Gwynnethe said...

I am telling you...

I hope he learns to "think outside the box" instead of being so concerned about how the box should be constructed and why.

But then, this world needs all kinds of people. :-) Even those of us who refuse to acknowledge there was ever a box to think out of.

Just Jackie said...

Wow I wish I was on materity leave again just so I can sit in the back seat and listen! These are hilarious dittys.