Skip to main content

Sometimes reality interferes...

Eleanor and Amanda have very firm ideas about how the world should be. Unfortunately, their ideas only sometimes match reality.

Eleanor yesterday went to the local kids museum. She saw there a tool that she had read about, but hadn't ever talked about before. "Mama, is that a CRAW-chette hook?" "Yes, that is a crochet hook!" When we talked about it later, she steadfastly refused to pronounce the word in the standard way. I think she feels that everyone else should understand her, she has no real need to make herself understood. When pressed, she would only say,"I like to call it a CRAW-chette hook."

Amanda this morning was eating corn flakes. She asked for some more: "Mama, could I have some rice krispies?" I answered, "Sure, you can have some corn flakes." "Well, I think they are rice krispies. What letter does rice krispies start with?"

We discussed this, and when we had determined that rice krispies start with R, she looked on the box. "Mama, where is the R on the box?" She seemed to imply that perhaps I really didn't know what I was talking about, and rice krispies really started with a C... I again told her that she was actually eating corn flakes, but it really doesn't make sense to argue with a 3 year old about dreary things like facts and reality.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well, I'm sure that the question was something more specific about vocabulary development. So if you count up the number of words kids produce, and you compare it to the number of words kids comprehend, then comprehension precedes production for most words.

But you make a good point, so I'll give you partial credit... I think that even adults use words they don't fully understand.

Love,
FNDP
May 9, 2008 at 7:47 AM
Gary said…
I remember refusing to put a "t" sound in the first syllable when I said "Mozart" because, after all, i knew how to read, and there was no t there. Then in 7th grade I took German and started pronouncing it correctly ;)

-Lenise
May 12, 2008 at 10:59 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My hero, Helen Parr

Otherwise known as Elastigirl , a.k.a Mrs. Incredible. She is a stay at home mom ( SAHM ), she clearly feels that what she is doing is important and is willing to give up a lot to do it (remember her comment in the intro: "I'm at the top of my game! Leave saving the world to the guys? I don't think so.") But she is finding fulfillment in leading her family from day to day, in doing a hard job well. She also knows that she is very talented, and that knowledge helps her see beyond the repetitive drudgery of staying home. My favorite scene is from the deleted introduction, where she talks with a "career woman" who is of the opinion that staying home is fine for people who can't do anything else. She responds that taking care of her kid is at least as hard as saving the world, and is valuable contribution to society. The point for me is that someone has to do the job that I'm doing, and it's not something that you could pay someone to do. I see...
8 comments
Read more

Why you should study the history of math

  Why you should study the history of math In the mid 1300s a fad made its way around Italy. Mathematicians would challenge each other to “mathematical duels”. They would post problems for their opponents to solve, sometimes along with their solutions in coded poetry. The winners would get support and funding from rich patrons, the losers would descend into obscurity. One such contest, between Fiore and Tartaglia, involved a new method for solving the cubic. In order to win, Tartaglia worked day and night to find Fiore’s method---unfortunately, Fiore did not do the same and only knew his own method and no others. (*Recall that the formula for solutions to quadratic equations of the form use the quadratic formula, Giorlamo Cardano---physician, philosopher, astrologer and mathematician---convinced Tartaglia to share his method and promised never to reveal it. Then Cardano figured out a more general method, and wanted to share it, but was blocked by his promises. Fortunately (for Ca...
Post a Comment
Read more

Things that are true

"Axial tilt is the reason for the season." (Picture a globe with the northern hemisphere tilted away from the sun...) I believe this is meant to be an anti-theist slogan, although I would point out that I believe there is a reason for the axial tilt. This is a runner up to my favorite true science picture, the "Gravity Forecast." I linked to this when I was a graduate student, but the site is long since down. Picture a weather forecast graphic, but instead of clouds and temperatures, the 5-day forecast predicts 9.8 m/s^2 down. Even the idea still makes me laugh, perhaps I will reproduce it someday. Luke cut his 4th tooth today (Finally!). So far they haven't caused us too much trouble. We'll see what happens when he gets his canines.
8 comments
Read more