Vian is back from school, wearing a button up shirt and slacks. Me: Vian, you look dapper today. Vian: Yeah. Today was picture day. Me: Oh yeah. Did you guys go out and take a picture? Vian: No. It was just someone else taking the picture. I didn’t take the picture. Talking to my kids is the best way for me to realize how imprecise my communication is.
Tonight we read Calvin and Hobbes for bedtime. After I read the comic strip above, I tried to explain a little about Michelangelo. Me: Remember, Michelangelo, we saw the statues he made when we went to Italy? Sempi: Yeah. Me: He’s a great sculptor. Do you guys remember the David statue? Vian: I know who Michelangelo is, he’s a TURTLE! o_O
Vian was playing with his stuffed animals. Vian: Watch my deer. It can do a somersault backwards. Sempi: (thinks for a bit, turns to me)… if you call a flip a somersault, do you call a backward flip a wintersugar? Me: What a terribly missed opportunity. They just call it a reverse somersault, those unimaginative linguists.
We are having dinner. Sempi is eating enthusiastically and suddenly cried out, “AAARGH!”. Me: What happened? Sempi: I accidentally bit my tongue while chewing. Me: I’m sorry Sempi, that must be quite painful. Vian who is listening to all this plays around with the food in his mouth and suddenly declares: Vian: You can actually bite your tongue anytime you want, not just on accident. Me: That’s…. that’s not a feature Vian, it’s a bug....
I’m reading a bedtime story to the kids. There’s a picture of a Pterosaur in one of the pages. Vian: That is not even a dinosaur. I am quite proud that he know that Pterosaurs are not Dinosaurs. Me: Oh, what are they? Vian: They’re just grown-up chickens in the sky. Sempi: Argh! They’re called Pterosaur, Vian. Ugh! Vian likes taunting his brother, so he repeats his flying chicken theory one more time for good measure....