Questions!

I think Little Man asked me a hundred questions this weekend, many of which were, "What does [word] mean?" It's interesting to see his mind, at age 6, learning the intricacies of language. It's such a process. We wait for that very first word around his first year, but is it any less amazing when he catches something in our adult conversation and pipes up, "Mommy, what does 'educated guess' mean?"

And I say, "Well, it's like a hunch."

"What's a hunch?"

Hmmm.... we start getting further and further into this, and I am realizing that for all my love of reading, language, and words, I'm getting in over my head in my ability to satisfy this kid's need for definitions. I don't know what color dinosaurs were, or how far up into the sky that balloon will go, or just WHEN Spring will come.

We're often told we're our children's first teacher. I am happy to teach him so many things, but I recognize my limitations. It is so powerful for him to have many teachers in his life: me, his dad, grandparents, daycare teachers, neighbors and friends, aunts and uncles, and then his formal teachers, who I value and respect so much.

There will be a long time for questions. A lifetime of questions. I hope to be able to answer them for now, but sooner than I'd like, I'm not necessarily going to have the answers. My wish is that ultimately, I can teach him to find his own answers.... and then, perhaps, I will have found my success.