Eddie's Thoughts at 3.5 Years Old

Eddie's mind has suddenly been able to grasp some complex ideas lately.  Well, actually, it's more that he's been expecting more and more in-depth/complex answers to his questions.  Here are some examples:

1. "Where did this come from?"  For the last month or so he's asked me where certain foods come from.  At first I said "the store" or "the produce basket on campus" or "Grandpa's garden" and that would suffice.  But now he wants to know how a particular item got there.  For instance, I bought blueberries for Pi Day because he wanted to make blueberry pies for dessert that night.  When I picked him up at school I had a little Tupperware full of some berries for him to eat on the way home.  He asked where they came from, I said I got them at the store so we could make pies.  He said, "No. How did they get into the container at the store?"  So I told him how the berries grow on bushes like they do at Papa's house, then someone picks them, then they are washed and sorted (throwing away any stray leaves and any yucky berries), then they are put into little containers, loaded into a cold truck, stored in a warehouse for a while, then they are put on another truck and driven to a store where I bought them.  WHEW.  Now he expects that sort of explanation for anything I buy.

2. "Mama when will you grow as big as Daddy?"  He's not satisfied with me telling him that girls don't usually grow as big and tall as boys...or that adults don't grow bigger like kids do.  I can't get out of this one because he just can't grasp the concept of biological limitations.

3. He is learning about the sugar and carbohydrate contents of the foods we eat.  Often I'll deny him a particular snack or side dish to go with dinner and before I can say why he'll say, "Is it because it has too much sugar in it and I already had a cup of soy milk (or OJ or apple cider) today so no more sugar for me?" or "Because it is a 'hydrate' [carbohydrate] and we are already having such-and-such that's a 'hydrate' right Mama?"  We've been discussing that fact that his Papa is now diabetic and since we'll be having Papa for dinner every night when we move, we need to make sure our meals are balanced and don't have too much 'hydrates' and sugar.  If it were up to Eddie, his meals would be half protein, 1/4 carbohydrates like fluffy biscuits, and 1/4 fruit.  He's not so keen on any veggie at this point but someday he'll learn to love them.

I was complaining to my parents and a family friend about how Eddie expects to have complete answers to his questions and how sometimes it's annoying but usually it's just exhausting.  It's exhausting because I have to actually THINK about what to say to him that is a) correct and b) understandable by him.

Having nannied and babysat and worked at a nursery in college and beyond, I have been around a lot of kids of various ages.  My experience is that most kids don't ask such questions and certainly don't expect such answers.  My dad laughed and said he knows alllllllll about that--in fact, he has about 31 years of experience with it.  He was quick to point out that most other kids don't do this because most parents probably don't provide their kids with answers/explanations that are a) correct and b) understandable.

Touche.

I dug that hole for myself now didn't I?  But I got the shovel from my DAD.

And now here are some pictures of sweet Eddie Pie from our 10 day stint in Gualala last week.

Dave and my dad set Eddie up with a piece of firewood to drill into so he wouldn't mess up their construction site downstairs at the Coast House.

Eddie and I went on some long walks around Papa's property so we wouldn't bother my dad and Dave while they worked.  He got to learn about tadpoles and see the frog egg sacks floating in the water.

Eddie was soooooooooooooo lucky to have BOTH grandfathers in the same house at the same time!

My dad and I tilled/double dug/planted the garden up at the airport.  Eddie helped plant the nightshade seedlings.

Edward and Jennifer came up for the last weekend, too, and Eddie got to make lots of yummy meals with his Auntie.  She's so good at cooking with him!  Here they are making waffles, or "faffles" as Eddie calls them.