Little r is now 4. Little r is not so little anymore and has a healthy dose of skepticism. Little r also is NOT shy and will, given the opportunity, talk your ear off. Case in point, last weekend at the Easter Egg hunt, who should we run into but the Easter bunny.
Little R: Are you real?
Easter Bunny: Yes. I’m here standing in front of you.
Little R: You look like you’re wearing a costume.
Easter Bunny (starting to sweat a little): Nope – look my fur is real
Little R: Where are your carrots?
Tsampamama: We gotta go (don’t wreck it for others, kid!)
Anyone who knows my boy knows he is crazy about dinosaurs and dragons. Imagine my surprise when one fine day little r comes home and tells me – Saskia (his teacher) says dragons don’t exist and dinosaurs are extinct. Jeez! Did she spill the beans about Santa and the Tooth Fairy too?? I just about wanted to cry. I don’t think there’s any harm in kids believing in magic for the first few years of their lives – in fact, I think that endless possibility and sense of wonder is exactly what makes that time even more special. However the upside of adding to his language – it sometimes has unintentionally hilarious uses.
Tsampamama: Rigden, Popo Chenmo-la (his great-grandfather) passed away
Little r: What does that mean?
Tsampamama: That means he’s not around any longer – he died.
Little r: You mean he went extinct?
Tsampa Mama 