The Cycle of Life to a Pre-schooler
I like to point things out to my kids when I drive like my dad did with me when I was a kid. He always had this uncanny ability to see 14 deer hiding in the scrub oak as we cruised down the winding highway a little faster than we should have been. “Where?” was usually the response.
I have no idea how he managed to see them and stay on the road at the same time. He explained it to me when I was old enough to drive and I’ve always tried to master it like he did but I doubt I’ll ever get to the level he was at. Just to be fair, he’s not at that level anymore. We have to remind him that he’s officially “too old” to do it safely. It doesn’t stop him of course but we still remind him.
So a couple weeks ago I was driving along with my kids and I saw the small remains of our local herd of antelope. I pointed them out to the kids and got the most excited response from my 3 year old.
“Antelopes?!?!?! I LOVE ANTELOPES!!!”
“You do? ” I replied. I knew he had been learning about the cycle of life in preschool and how chicks hatch from an egg and grow in to little chickens and then when they are big enough either they give us more eggs or we eat them. So I figured they must have learned a little about antelopes. And I caught myself thinking “that’s kind of a weird animal to showcase for preschoolers, you would think they would have chosen cows or horses or cats or dogs or something that would be a little more familiar to the kids.” And then it all became clear to me.
“I love antelopes AND watermelons.” And I couldn’t correct him, I was laughing so hard under my breath.
He’s clear on the difference between cantaloupes and antelopes now though. I even went and bought one so I could be clear that he knew what I was talking about. A cantaloupe, I bought a cantaloupe, not an antelope.
