in an adorable moment of family cuteness (which you will just have to imagine, since i did not take a picture) we were all reading a book before bed together tonight in my room.
subject: rabbits. (ever since the kitties, E has been obsessed with pets and so got this book about bunnies yesterday at school.)
E: "hey, mommy. i've been meaning to ask you this. why are we able to talk but animals can't?"
(it suddenly occured to me that i really had no idea why exactly we can talk. something in the brain? did he want specifics? why was he asking? was there an obvious answer that was eluding me because my brain is turning to mush? worse yet.. did i have early onset alzheimers? i decided to stall. throw the question back at him. see what he already knew.)
me: "yeah, E! why do you think that is?"
E: "well i did notice that we have way less fur than animals. they have it all over their bodies and we just have a little bit."
me (relieved, realizing that maybe i didn't need to get too technical at this moment. at least he wasn't looking for the name of the particular area of the brain. you never know what they learn in school these days...): "good point. and did you also know that our brains are a lot bigger than animals, too?"
(that must have something to do with it, right?)
i looked at M for input.
M:"yeah, we have super smart brains!" (ah, look. daddy doesn't know either!)
to which K replied with his own two cents: "i got weally big, smart DUMBHEAD bwain!"
what more can you say after that?
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2 comments:
LOL. I would have been at a loss for how to answer that too! I am going to have to remember the trick of directing the question back to the child - genius! :)
(p.s. thanks for visiting my blog the other day!)
Here's your answer: Opposable thumbs.
Most animals don't have opposable thumbs like we do.
Without opposable thumbs, they can't hold hammers.
Without being able to hold hammers, they can't build things...like schools.
Without schools, they have no places to teach the other animals English.
It's either that, or they're just stupid.
Your choice...I'll let you use either explanation free of charge.
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