So. Many. Questions.

[rivka]

We've hit the big asking-questions phase. Or maybe just the first big asking-questions phase, because she hasn't even started to use the word "why" yet. Even without the ability to spin every conversation into an endless recursive chain of whys, it's still questions, questions, questions, all day long.

"'It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring...' where is the man?"

I thought that one was problematic enough, but it was nothing compared to the time today that she started interrogating me about a different song: "Where is the crawdad hole? ...What is a crawdad? ...Can we go fishing in the crawdad hole today? Will Papa go fishing in the crawdad hole too?"

"What is a vaccine? What is a germ? What is a temperature? What is a peanut? What is a Girl Scout?" What, indeed. I like language and I like supporting learning, but this is starting to wear on me a bit.

I had the idea that I would try keeping one day's record of the questions she asked. It would certainly be a good record of this time in her life. So this morning when I came downstairs (after hearing her pepper Michael with a long series of questions while I checked my e-mail) I got out my yellow legal pad.

I gave up after one hour, when there were already fifty-seven questions jotted down on the pad. Fifty-seven. In one hour.

Where is Papa's charger?
Is this the top?
Is it the top?
Where is Miss Michelle?
Can I hold it?
Where is my name?
Can you write my name on the top?
Can I write your name?
Where is the tape?
Is it all fixed now?
What is he up to?
Can you turn it on?
Where is the other side of the green part?
Where is it?
Can you write with this?
What did that make?
What is the big something?
What is big?
Where are they going?
Where are you going, guys?
Where are you going, Papa?
Where are you going, Mama?
Where are you going, Alex?
Is Papa going upstairs?
What are you going to do, Papa?
What are you going to do, Papa?
What are you going to do, Papa?
Can you say, "Oh, man!"?
Can you sing, "Little Mama wants to play"?
Can you sing, "Little Alex wants to play"?
Can you sing, "Little Alex go away"?
Where did the fish go?
Where did the colored fish go?
Can you find the pink one and the yellow one?
Which one is yours, Mama?
Which one's yours?
Which one's mine?
Can I have a little big piece of tape?
Where is the tape?
Can you help me open this?
Are you ready?
Can you draw something with me with this?
Can you draw something for me?
Which one is yours?
Do you guys want to have a tea party while you're coloring?
Which one is yours?
Which one is yours, Mama?
Which one is mine?
Can you bring me some paper to color with crayons?
Where is the mama?
What is she thinking about?
Does she have a dress?
Is that the mama or the papa?
Is that the mama or the papa?
Which one do I like?
Which blanket do I like with babies in it?
Which one do I like?

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

It's like Beat Generation spoken poetry!

I also detect what sounds like syntax-checking - trying a question two or three ways to see if she's got the shape of it right.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Can you sing, "Little Mama wants to play"?
Can you sing, "Little Alex wants to play"?
Can you sing, "Little Alex go away"?

This triad made me giggle. Perhaps she was sensing your exasperation.

[tracicle.livejournal.com]

Yes, those three made me laugh out loud too.

[baldanders.livejournal.com]

!

[iamjw.livejournal.com]

*giggle* And now you've hit on the real reason for the invention of preschool - let them go ask somebody else for a while.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

Or maybe just the first big asking-questions phase

Ayup!

:):)

[erbie.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Try watching a movie with a 6 year old.

[kate-schaefer.livejournal.com]

Sam always said that the final answer in a series of questions is, Physics.

No matter where the question series began.

[ladyvonkulp.livejournal.com]

My answer for Paul (now 5) was always 'gravity'. And about half the time, it was (mostly) right.

[lerryn.livejournal.com]

Kids learn fast not to ask me "Why is the sky blue?" unless they really want a lecture on light refraction of a yellow star in a predominently nitrogen atmosphere.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

My cleaning lady brought her son with her the last time because she didn't have a babysitter (I said it was all right). He has spina bifida with brain complications. He'd ask questions and I'd start to answer and then he was gone. The light was out of his eyes. He's about eight or nine and asked why the cats' eyes shine, but didn't hear my answer. When he asked what my flower clock was, I said "What do you think it is?" and he asked if it exploded. As I started to say no, and explain, he was gone. He can focus about two minutes, but then there's nothing in his eyes for a bit. He's pretty good at using his wheelchair, though.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Do you guys want to have a tea party while you're coloring?

Color first. Then tea party. Otherwise you get crayon flavored scones.

Questions

[hazelchaz]

Wonderful stuff. Some of the early Peanuts make more sense to now, specifically Linus asking Lucy questions all day.

I think the idea of tracking a day's worth -- or an hour's worth -- of questions, from time to time, is a good idea. Shall we expect to see a similar post from you in a month or a year?

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Can you sing, "Little Alex go away"?

I bet I know what you wanted to answer...

The joys of having an intelligent kid. I always picture the grandparents grinning like mad, in a 'now you know what it's like' kind of way.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Would showing her how to use a dictionary help with some of those?

"What is a vaccine? What is a germ? What is a temperature? What is a peanut?"

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

All I know is that, at two, I was actually doing fairly well at reading, but the alphabet was still giving me trouble. I wasn't able to reliably look things up in the dictionary until, y'know, three years ago or so.

Seriously, though, I think that "finding a definition in an alphabetized list" is a significantly harder task than even "being able to read and understand a definition (written on an appropriate level).

My kids' dictionary, I think, did have "germ", "temperature", and "peanut", but I don't know if it had "vaccine".

In any case, "peanut" is a word which, I think, and barring allergy issues, is best defined by handing an example to the questioner.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

She doesn't read at all, so probably not. Although it may be time to get a simple picture dictionary (http://www.amazon.com/My-First-Dictionary-pictures-definitions/dp/1564582779/ref=pd_sim_b_5_img/002-3119930-5278409?ie=UTF8&qid=1187829155&sr=8-4), I don't think it would take the place of a parental answer for most of these questions. We still have to do a lot of scaffolding, building up the whole set of concepts needed to understand ideas.

[larcb.livejournal.com]

"What is she thinking about" is amazing. My Coral now looks at pictures and wants to know what the people/animals/whatever are saying.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Alex drove me crazy today, looking at a Hanna Anderssen catalog and wanting to know everyone's names.

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Oh, Elena *loves* Hanna Andersson. Other catalogs get thrown away, but she keeps those to pore over for weeks and weeks.

[tracicle.livejournal.com]

Dare I ask, as an uneducated NZer, what Hanna Andersson is? (I could google, but I'm sure the answer here will be entertaining. :)

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Hanna Andersson sells brightly colored, pseudo-European-style, very price-y clothes (mostly for kids). Their catalogs are really nice, and my daughter (almost 2 1/2) loves flipping through the pages - all those bright colors, plus pictures of babies and kids and occasionally a dog. :)

[tracicle.livejournal.com]

Ah, our equivalent is Pumpkin Patch. My daughter isn't too interested in the catalogues yet but my four-year-old son likes to flick through and put a tick next to the things he thinks we'll get him one day. Heh.

[subversive-mom.livejournal.com]

Just wait until she gets older and decides to ask you to explain theology as you're merging onto the freeway. : )

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

when you get to "how do i spell" questions, my parents gave me a... can't think of the word. hm. little book of ring bound rip out 3x5 cards. i would say how do you spell, they would say go get your book, they would write it down on the page for the letter the word started with, and off i would go.

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

I love these:
"Where are you going, Alex?"
"Which one do I like?"

[rivka.livejournal.com]

"Which one do I like?"

She's developed an interesting habit lately of quizzing me about things, purely to tell me how wrong I am. For example:

"Mama, which one is your favorite?"
"I like this one."
"No. You like that one."

I suspect that "Which one do I like" was a setup for something like that, although I don't remember.

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

Funny!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

No, Alex! Stay away from crawdads! You are much smaller now than I was at age 5 when a giant one chased me around the back of the truck!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Never under-estimate the love of a pre-schooler for tape.

K. [or bandaids]

[rivka.livejournal.com]

[or bandaids]

Yeah. We have no concerns whatsoever about Alex's visual acuity, because she has such a strong ability to identify even the most microscopic of skin damage which might qualify as an owie deserving of band-aids.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I am convined that bandaids should come on a roll for the 2-5 set.

K.

[tracicle.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes. Amy will see a speck of strawberry jam on her hand and ask for "a paster [plaster] please Mummy".

[baratron.livejournal.com]

Richard says "A peanut's like a coffee bean, only harder to get out of your nose".

*rotfl*