Awhile back, Ella asked me if I would help her write a book that would answer all of her why questions. All too often, she asks me a question that I cannot answer. I always promise to look up the answer, and I always intend to follow through, but all too often, I forget. This book, Ella said, would solve our little conundrum. She would present me with all of her questions, as they came to her, and I would spend my evenings searching for the answers. In this ideal situation, I would not only research and compile concise answers to her questions, but I would present them to her in a book format so that she could always reference the answers. This is such a great idea, except for the part about me doing all of the work. She makes me chuckle.
A few nights ago, I sat with her and began compiling a list of her questions. I was curious about what she's so curious about. I expected her to have one or two questions. Instead, she had a steady stream of why and how, and I'm not sure I could answer well a single one of her questions without doing a little research.
Here are a few of her questions:
What happened to the three nails they used to crucify Jesus?
How does octopus ink blind its enemy? Is there something in the ink that causes blindness or does the ink just makes the water too dark to see in?
Why is pink a "girl" color and blue a "boy" color?
Why do cowboys wear high heals?
Who discovered that glass is good for the eye? Is there actually medicine in the glass?
Who sewed the first quilt?
Why does light shine through a lamp shade?
Why do pages turn yellow with oldness?
The list goes one and on, and as I was typing it up here, I noticed that she has added to it. You know, so often people comment about how smart Ella is. She is smart, but hearing people go on and on about Ella always makes me feel a little protective of Virginia--I usually end up saying "Virginia is smart too!" Virginia is smart. As I understand better how the girls' minds work, I am realizing how differently they think about things. It seems that Virginia can easily and quickly solve puzzles and identify patterns. She can beat almost any adult at a game of Set or a sudoku puzzle. Ella not so much. Ella can solve just about any puzzle and identify just about any pattern, but she does so with care and deliberation. She needs time and quiet, and she needs to understand the why. She always asks why. Virginia doesn't. I'm like Virginia. I never ask why, except now, as I wonder why my brain is wired in such a way that the why never occurs to me.
1 comment:
I enjoyed this post very much. I can't articulate why, though. hehe
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