Sep 10th is the Teacher's Day.
Last year I remember I bought 3 flower bouquets for DoDo. It was really happy holding those flowers in a sunny morning on the way to kindergarten. So she was excited and told me: "Mama, as if we two are just getting married!"
That was funny. I smiled and bent over: "Ah yes. Happy wedding's day, honey."
But there was something wrong. It was more about money instead of about gifts. I payed, then she sent them as gifts. Also there was such a confusion: am I showing the kid how to bribe the teachers? If I really have to do something at that day, maybe it's a chance to explain what a gift is, what is really a 'Thank You' to teachers. So I decided next time only buy single flowers and DoDo needs to do something herself.
With 3 purple water lilies in hands, I think hard: what is the something I planned for DoDo last year? Drawing cards? Anyway, she can do that now. And I do have blank postcards at home.
DoDo likes the task. And it's also a easy time for me, I can just lay on sofa and play the fishing game. She invites me to join, but I tell her I will write for her, so the painting part is all hers.
The startup are always flowers, sun, moon, stars...as in usual kid's drawing.
Then comes the interesting conversation.
"Mama, do you know where do the sun, the earth, the moon come from?"
That's a hard question. Shall I mention that boring big bang? "No, I don't know...."
"I'll tell you. In evening, the sun, flea out of the earth. And in morning, the moon flea out of the earth. The moon, performs retransmission (where did she get such complicated tech words?) for the earth... There is a small window on the earth. So sometimes the sun and the moon can find it and run out of earth. That's why they can run away."
"Really? That's very interesting."
"Yes, it is."
And on the other day while walking arround , she comes back to this topic again.
"Mama, do you know how comes the sun, the earth, and the moon?"
This time I confess my ignorance without hesitation: "I don't know, honey."
"Let me tell you. The moon, is hatched out of an egg. (This I have a clue, days before she asked me where cockcroaches come from) This, happens outside of the earth. Then the moon enters into the earth, together with stars. They come together. But the sun is different..."
So good to know there are so many possiblities and varieties about this normal world arround me. Almost like an Asimov's fiction.
Later, on one card I see a blue flower, a '6', and a green thunder bolt.
The only problem is, the color pencil doesn't work well with the postcard paper. So although they are good enough drawing for stupid parents like me. Still not in a gift style.
I can only suggest her to put some water color on it, to excite the picture.
So DoDo continues. It turns out to be a total rework. Water colors cover up all old pencil pictures. And the result is far far beyond my imagination.
Here are the final products:
A garden, I suppose. Because obviously it is about flowers. I like it immediately for the bright colors.
This one we talked about punching the brush. She was laughing when
doing so. I said the punch printout is really nice. Then she told me the
left red one is a bird. Then I realize it is such a vivid flying
scarlet bird. It is a result of coincidence. But so great.
This one I didn't like at first. It's just a big purple circle. So I kept suggesting her put more colors on. At last she explained, this is "a typhoon affects the flower in the center". Immediately I admit it is a great painting. This summer we've got quite some typhoons. She's so impressed by the weather forecast. For typhoon, I've got 1.5 days home office with DoDo singing and dancing arround, to speed up my debugging, which really works.
The next day, Dad sends DoDo to kindergarten gate with the water lilies and the cards. Then it's all her way up.
When she's back in the evening, I ask, "Have you given them to Teacher Li, Teacher Qiu and Antie Li?"
"Yes."
"Are they happy?"
"Yes."
"What did they say?"
She looks confused, "I don't know."
Now all feel right.
Last year I remember I bought 3 flower bouquets for DoDo. It was really happy holding those flowers in a sunny morning on the way to kindergarten. So she was excited and told me: "Mama, as if we two are just getting married!"
That was funny. I smiled and bent over: "Ah yes. Happy wedding's day, honey."
But there was something wrong. It was more about money instead of about gifts. I payed, then she sent them as gifts. Also there was such a confusion: am I showing the kid how to bribe the teachers? If I really have to do something at that day, maybe it's a chance to explain what a gift is, what is really a 'Thank You' to teachers. So I decided next time only buy single flowers and DoDo needs to do something herself.
With 3 purple water lilies in hands, I think hard: what is the something I planned for DoDo last year? Drawing cards? Anyway, she can do that now. And I do have blank postcards at home.
DoDo likes the task. And it's also a easy time for me, I can just lay on sofa and play the fishing game. She invites me to join, but I tell her I will write for her, so the painting part is all hers.
The startup are always flowers, sun, moon, stars...as in usual kid's drawing.
Then comes the interesting conversation.
"Mama, do you know where do the sun, the earth, the moon come from?"
That's a hard question. Shall I mention that boring big bang? "No, I don't know...."
"I'll tell you. In evening, the sun, flea out of the earth. And in morning, the moon flea out of the earth. The moon, performs retransmission (where did she get such complicated tech words?) for the earth... There is a small window on the earth. So sometimes the sun and the moon can find it and run out of earth. That's why they can run away."
"Really? That's very interesting."
"Yes, it is."
And on the other day while walking arround , she comes back to this topic again.
"Mama, do you know how comes the sun, the earth, and the moon?"
This time I confess my ignorance without hesitation: "I don't know, honey."
"Let me tell you. The moon, is hatched out of an egg. (This I have a clue, days before she asked me where cockcroaches come from) This, happens outside of the earth. Then the moon enters into the earth, together with stars. They come together. But the sun is different..."
So good to know there are so many possiblities and varieties about this normal world arround me. Almost like an Asimov's fiction.
Later, on one card I see a blue flower, a '6', and a green thunder bolt.
The only problem is, the color pencil doesn't work well with the postcard paper. So although they are good enough drawing for stupid parents like me. Still not in a gift style.
I can only suggest her to put some water color on it, to excite the picture.
So DoDo continues. It turns out to be a total rework. Water colors cover up all old pencil pictures. And the result is far far beyond my imagination.
Here are the final products:
A garden, I suppose. Because obviously it is about flowers. I like it immediately for the bright colors.
This one I didn't like at first. It's just a big purple circle. So I kept suggesting her put more colors on. At last she explained, this is "a typhoon affects the flower in the center". Immediately I admit it is a great painting. This summer we've got quite some typhoons. She's so impressed by the weather forecast. For typhoon, I've got 1.5 days home office with DoDo singing and dancing arround, to speed up my debugging, which really works.
The next day, Dad sends DoDo to kindergarten gate with the water lilies and the cards. Then it's all her way up.
When she's back in the evening, I ask, "Have you given them to Teacher Li, Teacher Qiu and Antie Li?"
"Yes."
"Are they happy?"
"Yes."
"What did they say?"
She looks confused, "I don't know."
Now all feel right.
Posts
LK, thank you for those inspiring stories! I had so much fun reading them - and regarding the paintings, a firework of colour and fantasy. I admire both, Dodos imagination and your talent to write it down so detailed and poetically. Children can make us think about the world in a different way.
ReplyDeleteThese days Ronja has three major topics: death, bacteria and where (animal or human) babies come from - mama's belly or eggs.
Sometimes I'm scared when she says:"I will die soon". Or she asks: "When will all the crows die?" She knows that her great-grand father had died and she has seen several dead animals. She is very curious about the time she will die and what happens when she dies.
On bacteria. Bacteria are an important topic in the context of washing hands or brushing teeth. I told her about bad bacteria that make us ill and good bacteria that protect us from becoming ill.
One day she examined me with the stethoscope. "There is a little horse in your belly. A belly horse. It is protecting your belly. It is a bacteria, but a good one."
Later: "Moths are also bacteria." (Denise: "No, moths are insects.") Ronja: "Yes, they also hatch from eggs!" I think all children are fascinated by the fact that babies come out of a mama's belly. Sometimes she asks: "When will I have children?"
One night she was very agitated and couldn't calm down for sleeping. She was crying until she was very sleepy. She then curled up under the blanket beside me, her head next to my belly. She said: "Close the blanket! I want to be completely in your belly!"
:) Yes, DoDo also asks me "When will I have a baby?" And she asked his father:"When will you give birth to a baby? Mama have me and Zz, next time it's your turn, produce a sister." And she is fascinated by idea of 'twins'. She asked for a twin sister/brother instead of Zz as current, because obviously Zz is still too young to be a play mate for her. But Twins are different. She says, next time mama you can give birth to a twin of me.
ReplyDeleteShe will take good care of her doll. Put Zz's cloths onto the doll. Put the doll in comfortable position in Zz's stroller (Not allow Zz to use it, because her baby needs it!)
And once she said she knew Zz before, "When we are both in your belly, of course I knew him." That's sounds very interesting.
I like 'the little belly horse bacteria'. The scientists should name bacteria in this way, really. :)
:-D
ReplyDeleteRonja always wants to have a brother - an elder brother ;-)
Yes, why shouldn't the father give birth to a baby? It is not easy to understand for a little child. Ronja is fascinated by relations between people. Once she said: "Denise, Axel is your husband. And who is your wife?" (In German there is only one word for 'wife'/'woman' and for 'husband'/'man'. So in fact she asked: "Axel is your man. And who is your woman?")
Ronja is not very interested in dolls. She prefers her stuffed animals. She has a lot of them - many of them were mine before. Frog, flunder, spider, snake, mite are typical biologist's toys, aren't they? And the others got interesting names. Alfons, the fox. Or the elefant is called "Streuobstwiese", which is the German word for a special kind of meadow with fruit trees. The tiger is called "elder" (= the shrub with elderberries) and the icebear's name is "glass walnut coconut chestnut".
So all the animals have nice fruits/nuts with them. :)
DeleteFor 2 consequent Halloween in kindergarten (Halloween is not a public holiday here, but as the kindergarten has international kids there, they have all kinds of holidays for fun), DoDo is the Elephant. I guess the only elephant. At first it is a tough problem for me, I asked her, what you plan to be for that day? Elephant. But elephant costume is not that popular. So I tried next day, asked the same question, hoped maybe she shift her mind. But she was so determined: Elephant. Then I finally found it in web shops. The most satisfactory part of that costume is: the tail. She was so content with the tail: O, my tail! Then sitting down and standing up became a big ceremony. Carefully put her tail in a neat shape, she sat down. Holding her tail gentally from the chair, she stood up. :D In my understanding, it is really a huge pity that human lost their tails.
This year, she finally changes to a pink bunny. Still the tail is her favorite. She would turn arround and show us the short fluffy tail ball.
And once she played the train game with other kids. Each child riding on a big toy block, and was asked 'where does your train head for?' Other kids answered Beijing, Hongkong and so on. DoDo replied 'the Arctic.' Later on another round, still heading for the Arctic. Always the Arctic. Because she wants to play with icebears there. I said it's cold there. Then she will put on another thin shirt: ok, I am ready for that.
One day she was very happy to inform me in morning that there is a spider in our living room. The spider is visiting us. At that time I knew she's ready for the story 'Charlotte's Web'.