Random Thoughts

Coming home from church tonight, we went to do Dave's "building checks". He has a couple of high rise condos he takes care of "operationally" (my word) on a daily basis, and when he hasn't been able to check them before church Wednesday, then we usually go as a family after church. This is a highlight for both of the kids because they usually get to go in with him to check his boilers, get to ride up elevators, you know, all that exciting stuff kids like. On the way out of the last building tonight, Hannah ran out ahead so she could open the door, again, another very important thing to a child. On our way home, the subject was brought up about Hannah running ahead of her dad to open up the door and run out. He asked her, "Hannah, what if a dog was outside and you opened up the door and ran out?" Now please note, this was her dad asking this, not me. I would not have even thought of it, let alone say it, especially to a girl who lies awake for hours "imagining" things. Instead, because of the way Dave said this, a discussion ensued that went something like this:

"Would the dog have gotten in, dad?" (Hannah)

"Well no, not likely. He likely would have been caught off guard..." (Dave)

To which I interrupted, "and you would have likely jumped back and the door would have shut."

"But the dog could have opened the door with his teeth, right?" (Hannah)

"Well no, Hannah, no dog can do this." (Dave)

"Actually, there are probably a few specially trained to open doors..." (Me)

"I highly doubt it." (Dave)

.........is he trying to undo his scaring?......con't.....

"Dad, do wolves live in caves?" (Hannah, without skipping a beat)

"No they don't, Hannah" (Dave) Now how does he know that for sure they don't at least go in caves?

"But if we ever saw a wolf, we would run away, wouldn't we dad?" (Hannah)

"If we ever saw a wolf, we would definitely, uh, try to avoid it. But actually, we have more of a chance to see a coyote, Hannah, than a wolf." (Dave)

"Are coyotes like wolves, dad?" (Hannah)

"Coyotes are much smaller than wolves, Hannah." (Dave), then asks her to picture her Aunt Donna's dog and imagine a coyote to be about that size or a little larger.

"Coyotes would probably run from us, right dad?" (Hannah)

"Coyotes would run from us because they're scared of people. Coyotes like to get dogs to chase them, then run them right into the middle of the pack of coyotes, and then they eat the dog. They also eat sheep and chickens." (Dave) Yummy....

This conversation took place over a very few minutes. This is the way my daughter's mind works. We went from dogs to wolves to coyotes in a very short span.

It's at times like these that I'm very glad Dave is along. He is MUCH more patient with answering the 101 questions and is actually a very good teacher. He is gifted at bringing an explanation to her level of understanding, so much so that quite often when she asks me a question, before I've even had a chance to answer (because I'm thinking of a response she might understand and am a bit slow on the uptake) she'll tell me to never mind, she'll just ask dad.

Which brings me to my second subject: Her schooling. Now you know why she is like she is with her swift topic changes. I went specifically to the homeschool conference in Regina this past weekend to check out a certain curriculum that's meant to help kids with 1,000,921,092 daily questions, and would you believe they weren't there? The nerve! They did not come to this year's conference and did not bother to let me know!

Seriously, now I'll likely have to go to the store in Calgary to purchase it. I could order it online, but I want to see it first and go through it with a fine tooth comb. Such is life, I guess.

Now I'll go rest my tired mind, caused by my inquisitive daughter, even though her dad was the question answerer tonight.

Maybe dad should be the homeschooler and I should work full time. What do you think?