Wednesday 29 February 2012

The wonderful logic of little boys

Two recent examples. I phoned my daughter, and her small son answered the phone.

Me: Hello, Max. Is Mummy there?
Max: Yes.
Long pause while I wait for me daughter, then:
Me: Max?
Max (still there): Yes?
Me: Could I speak to her, please?
And off he went to fetch her. Because, of course, I hadn't asked to speak to her; I'd only asked if she was there. And he'd answered my question and was (presumably) politely waiting for the next one.

Second example. We had two grandsons, aged 8 and 9, staying over half-term. I asked them to go and run their bath, and I would be up in a minute. Off they went. But when I went to check, they had certainly run the bath - gallons of hot water were pouring in - but I hadn't asked them to put the plug in, so the bath was empty.

I shall know better next time.

11 comments:

  1. Lovely! One of my sons did exactly the same to my mum when she phoned! It must be a boy thing :-)

    I love the one about the bath - hope you're not on a meter! x

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  2. Maybe you could train the boys as editors - they'd make sure you wrote exactly what you meant.

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  4. Teresa, there wasn't a lot of hot water left!

    Patsy, I'm not sure they have the imagination...

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  5. How lovely! I love their perfect logic.
    When I was about ten, my mother asked me to keep an eye on my her friend's four-year-old daughter. I was told she would like me to teach her some ballet steps to pass the time. Her mother said she should copy everything I did.
    For hours this little girl faithfully did just that. Not just the demi-plies and the polka, but every scratch, every yawn, every single movement I made. It was like looking in a mirror for a whole day.

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  6. Aw, I love the logical and literal way children look at the world. That's funny, too, Joanna!

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  7. I'm afraid my individual reply thingy isn't working. Sigh.

    English Rider, too true!

    Joanna, it sounds as though you had a fun day!

    Rosemary, I suppose it makes sense. When I was a child, I had a book about a little boy who was told to 'look after' a puppy. He did just that. He looked and looked, and eventually it disappeared. Had hadn't been told to follow it when it ran off.

    Thanks, Colette and Anna!

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  8. It made me smile and think! It does make sense after all!

    It reminds me of some of my residents with dementia. I love those moments!

    Doris

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