When I hear that question, or that same question in regards to any other animal, bug, sea creature, or extinct animal ā including all dinosaurs ā mentioned by my little fella Lex, I know I must stop everything Iām doing and give him my full attention, because for as long as I am willing to be his audience, heās going to teach me everything there is to know about ducks.
Lex with a baby chicken in Vietnam |
Iām going to learn about: what they eat; how they have babies; the different breeds; the different habitats; whether or not theyāre predators; and so much more. I have come to appreciate that my mind is going to be blown in these learning interludes and I love them.
When Lex decided to start sharing his learnings consistently ā which was only a few months back ā there were many times when I asked if he was right. He always responded with āI think soā and then we consulted trusty Cortana. One such question was about sharks. Do sharks have babies or lay eggs? I thought they had babies, he thought they laid eggs, on further search, it appeared we were both right. Who knew? Now I do.
He then kept speaking about the Sonori Desert (always singing Sonori) and Iām like, are you sure itās called Sonori mate? Youāre not speaking about the Sahara Desert? Nope, always the Sonori. On further investigation, there is a desert in the US called the Sonora Desert. So Lex was right again in his own special way. Iād never heard of it, but looks like a fabulous place if you want to meet a rattle snake ā he knows all about them too.
Another recent fascination was the Gela Monster ā a venomous lizard that lives in the Sanora desert of course. He kept saying Heela Monster and I am searching for it, with a h and not having much luck. Then a link suggestion comes up for Gela Monster. I know all about them now too.
Jax was loving it too |
To say Iām pretty chuffed with my Lexy is an understatement. This is the lad whoās had a hard time catching up with his speech and getting ahead at school. Iāve always said he needed time and love, because heās smart as hell, so when I hear him speak now, shite, I get blown away. Enunciation is still an issue, so Iām thinking acting or singing could be the answer? I donāt know. Weāre on the final hurdle it feels, but itās been a long haul let me tell you.
Another bonus is it might get Jax to stop watching crappy toy videos. Last week Jax declares: āLex is really smart mum.ā Well of course that got a lot of: so are you mate, youāre super smart, etc, etc, etc⦠But then I sat down with Jax and said, you know why Lex knows all these things? Because when heās on YouTube heās watching Discovery Channel or National Geographic learningabout them. Youāre watching videos of spoilt kids getting too many toys. Maybe if you watch things that teach you something you can share your knowledge with us too?
This morning, I took Jax to his swim lesson at school and Lex came along for the ride. All the way there, both boys were competing for my attention to share their latest creature learnings. We covered lemmings, barnacles, sea snakes, star fish, slugs, leeches, and so much more. It was awesome. Now they need to learn to give each other a turn when speaking, but weāll leave that for another day.
When youāve been waiting to see a passion revealed in your child, itās really awesome when that day comes, donāt you agree?
Yours, without the bollocks
Andrea