Monday, July 23, 2012

Apparently It's Not a Fluke...

A while back, I posted about Theo correctly subtracting time. He had asked me what time it was (1:30) and what time we had to leave for swimming (1:50) and announced, "Set my timer for 20 minutes!" I was shocked...but wondering whether it was just a lucky guess. Apparently not...because today we had this conversation:

Theo: What time can I get off quiet time?
Me: 3:40. See, I wrote it on your paper.
Theo (looking at his clock, which showed a current time of 2:35): I have just five minutes!


Well, actually an hour and five minutes, but I'm still stunned that he once again correctly subtracted the minutes. What amazes me even more is that he did it instantly in his head--no counting on his fingers, and no hesitation. An adult can do that, of course...but he's four years old. Then again, he thinks he's an adult, so maybe that explains it? ;-) 

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Daycare for the Elderly

Theo is dying to go to daycare. He thinks it's the ultimate in excitement, and he asks about it all the time. Today's conversation went like this:

Theo: I want to go to daycare!
Me: Mommy works at home, so you don't have to go to daycare.
Theo: When Mommy doesn't work, I can go to daycare!
Me: Well, not quite. If I don't work, I'm still at home...so you still don't go to daycare.
Theo: When Mommy is up in the stars [translation: DEAD!], I can go to daycare.
Me (snickering): Well, I'm hoping not to be up in the stars anytime soon.
Theo: When I am 91 years old, I can go to daycare!
Me (laughing more): It's not the same kind of daycare when you're 91....
Theo: What kind of daycare is it?
Me: Old-person daycare...
Theo: What do you do at old-person daycare?
Me: Um, drool a lot. (Yes, I realize that's a horrible joke, but I couldn't help it!)
Theo: Are there toys there?
Me: No, you don't play with toys when you're 91....
Theo: Then what do you do?
Me: Um, sit quietly and eat soft, mushy foods.

That stopped the questioning...for a while. He doesn't particularly care for soft, mushy foods, so perhaps I have taken away the allure of daycare?!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

He Couldn't...Could He??

Theo's world is largely driven by two things: music and numbers. He loves all music, and he wants numbers assigned to everything: What time will we do X? How much longer will Y happen? What number is San Francisco? Or Seattle? Or Pittsburgh? What number [age] does he have to be do to A, B, or C? You get the idea....

Because he's obsessed with numbers but doesn't really understand time yet, we got him a timer that shows the time counting down by way of a red segment that gets smaller as the time left decreases. We've been using this timer a lot to help with transitions: "Theo, you can use the iPad until your timer is up, and then it's time to get ready for school." Or "Theo, you have until the timer is up to finish your breakfast." Again, you get the idea.

Today after school, we had this conversation:

Theo: Mom, what time is it?
Me: 1:30.
Theo: What time do we have to leave for my swim lesson?
Me: 1:50.
Theo: Mom, set my timer for 20 minutes!

It took me a second, and then...what?? Did he just correctly figure out the time until he had to leave for swimming? I think it may have just been a lucky guess...but then I think about Theo and his aptitude for numbers, and I wonder. Hmmm...

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Women's Work

Yesterday, Theo and I had this conversation in the car:
Theo: Mommy, are you a girl?
Me: Yes, I am.
Theo: So do you vacuum?
Me (after briefly recoiling at the fact that my son apparently sees vacuuming as going hand in hand with being a "girl"): Yes. But so does Daddy. Boys and men can vacuum too, you know.
Oh dear. I must nip in the bud this notion of "women's work!"


It's a Living...

Theo is lately very interested in Chris's job. He wants to know exactly what Chris does, where he does it, why he does it, etc. I explain these things to him and then tell him that I work, too--because for whatever reason, it bugs me to think that in Theo's mind, Chris is the only one who works. (My own insecurity, I know...)
So yesterday, we had this discussion:
Theo: What are we going to do on Thursday?
Me: Well, you'll go to preschool, and Daddy and I will work.
Theo: What does Daddy work at?
Me: In South San Francisco. And Mommy works at home.
Theo: I work, too.
Me: Really? What do you do? What's your job?
Theo: I do dress-up and buy the food.
Aha! I see that his playing dress-up with his friends at school has evolved, and he now dresses up and does the shopping. I'd love to be a fly on the wall and see this....